


Blurred Lines

by Kats_watermelon



Series: the blurred lines universe [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Dancer AU, Multi, a bit of suggestiveness, adrien keep your hands to yourself you're the good one, some minor angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-01
Updated: 2016-05-28
Packaged: 2018-05-17 15:03:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 40,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5875363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kats_watermelon/pseuds/Kats_watermelon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marinette is the new dancer in the Agreste Ballet Company. She may have a wonderful mentor, Tikki, but that doesn't stop things from being complicated. There are the other girls, like Chloe, that look down on a dancer like her. There's Plagg, another mentor with a funny penchant for cheese. And then there's Adrien, Marinette's new partner. She must learn to fit in at the new company, even with all the odds stacked against her. But it's getting harder when Adrien keeps looking at her like that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Marinette sighed, pushing a few loose strands of hair out of her face. 

First day at the new studio, and she’d already managed to screw up. 

_Leave it to me to manage to be a clumsy ballerina_ , she thought wryly as she helped the other girl pick up the things that Marinette had knocked off the bench. The girl kept apologizing like it was her fault, saying that she should have been more careful about where she put her stuff. Marinette wasn’t sure how to respond, so she just helped clean up silently. 

“Thank you,” the girl said, placing the last book on top of the remade stack of books on the bench. Marinette smiled, picking up her own bag.

“It was my fault in the first place,” she said. She hurried off before the girl could protest and blame herself again. 

Her new studio was a maze of corridors backstage. She checked the directions she’d scrawled on her wrist. Turn left at the T and the rehearsal studio should be up ahead. She glanced up again, spotting the T, and let out a sigh of relief. At least she’d get there, even if it was a few minutes late. 

Her feet made gentle padding sounds on the cold tile, the ballet slippers she’d pulled on when she entered the studio barely protecting her toes from the chill. She spotted the door to the rehearsal studio up ahead and broke into a jog, eager to get to her new job. 

She’d only just recently been recruited into the Agreste Ballet Company, one of the best in Paris. It was her first day and she was hoping to make a good impression. Agreste typically didn’t pick dancers like her. Most of their dancers were wealthy kids who had parents already neck-deep in contributions to the company. As far as Marinette knew, she was the first amateur dancer to be recruited. 

She burst through the door and immediately tripped, her eyes widening as her often-but-not-always-graceful legs failed her and she went tumbling towards the floor. 

_So much for a good first impression_ , she managed to think sourly.

A pair of lean, muscled arms wrapped around her waist and caught her neatly before she could hit the ground. She let out a little gasp of surprise as the mystery person set her back on her feet. She turned to thank them and found herself staring straight into a pair of luminous green eyes, framed by slightly messy blonde hair. She let out a little squeak.

Adrien Agreste.

He flashed a dazzling smile at her.

“You must be Marinette, the new dancer,” he said, sticking out a hand for her to shake. “I’m Adrien.”

Marinette took his hand, but to her surprise, he lifted it to his mouth and kissed her knuckles. She let out another squeak, her eyes widening. 

“Adrien, you’re going to break her,” a kind voice chided. “Come on, give the girl some space.”

Adrien flashed another little smile at Marinette and stepped back. Marinette blinked and cleared her throat, feeling her cheeks flush. She wrapped her arms around herself and stared at the ground.

“Sorry,” she murmured. “I’m a little clumsy.”

“A clumsy ballerina?” a new voice snorted. “Now I’ve seen everything.”

“Plagg,” the kind voice sighed. 

“What?”

Marinette chanced a peek up at Adrien. He had an amused expression on, but wasn’t looking at her. She straightened, brushing imaginary dust from her skirt, and looked around the studio. 

There was a man lounging on a small stool in the corner, by the stereo. He was dressed all in black and had a mischievous glint in his eyes. He was eating, too, Marinette noticed. Was that… cheese? She shook her head slightly and cast her eyes around the room more. There were the standard barres and mirrors, and off to her right, a woman with a kind smile standing at one of the barres. She smiled even wider when Marinette’s gaze landed on her. Marinette instantly liked the woman. She was dressed in a red leotard and skirt and had red ribbons in her hair to match. 

“Hi,” Marinette said, a little shyly. “I’m Marinette.”

“The clumsy ballerina,” the man in black muttered. “I should write this down. Tikki, you got a pen?”

“Plagg,” the woman, Tikki, said, exasperated. “Stop teasing the poor girl.”

Plagg snorted, crossing his legs, but said nothing further. Tikki held out her hand to Marinette to shake, and thankfully, unlike Adrien, actually shook it.

“I’m Tikki,” she said. “I’ll be your mentor here. Welcome to the Agreste Ballet Company. You’ve already met Adrien. He’s your partner. And that sourpuss over there is Plagg, Adrien’s mentor. Don’t pay him any mind. He’s been in a bad mood all his life.”

“Not true!” came Plagg’s protest. Marinette laughed, adjusting her bag on her shoulder.

“It’s nice to meet all of you. Are you the only ones here?”

“For now, yes,” Tikki said. “Since you’ll be working most closely with the three of us, Mr. Agreste wanted your first session to be just the four of us. We need to get a good estimation of your skills and maybe do a couple little things with Adrien to see how well you two work together. Does that sound okay?”

Marinette nodded, setting her bag down by the barre. Tikki smiled again, showing off white teeth. 

“Excellent. Let’s get started.”

 

“How far can you go for a split?” Plagg interjected. Tikki sighed, shooting him a dirty look over Marinette’s shoulder.

“Ignore him, honey,” she said to Marinette. “Focus on what we’re doing now.”

Marinette nodded. She tried to remember the exact steps Tikki had given her, settling her hands by her sides. She let her mind focus only on her limbs, thinking over the footwork and arms and the basic steps that Tikki had laid out. It was a simple routine, meant for warmup. Marinette had done a variation of it at her old studio, back before she was recruited.

Tikki counted her in.

“Five, six, seven, eight.”

Marinette let the dance take over her mind the way it always did. Tikki and Plagg and Adrien no longer existed. It was just her and the empty dance floor, twirling and leaping and spinning. She felt the dance seeping into her limbs, felt them moving automatically. There was nowhere else she’d rather be. 

A part of her was sad when she finished the dance, but she held her finishing pose best she could, meeting Tikki’s eyes in the mirror. The older woman’s eyes were shining, hands clasped happily in front of her chest.

“She’s good,” Plagg commented. “Almost as good as you, Tikki.”

“Maybe even better,” Tikki murmured. 

Marinette wavered a little. 

“Am I done?” she asked uncertainly. Tikki laughed a little, her laughter sounding like bells.

“Yes, sweetheart. You can relax. I think we can move on to the partner stuff next.”

Marinette lowered her arms and finally looked at Adrien in the mirror. He had an appraising look, but when she caught his eye, he flashed a small, sweet smile. She flushed red again and turned to get her water bottle from her bag. 

Adrien Agreste was the kind of dancer she’d always admired. His father, Gabriel Agreste, was a brilliant choreographer and owned the ballet company. Adrien had been dancing since he could walk. It showed, too. Every movement he made was fluid and graceful, like his entire life was just one big choreographed dance. The girls in Marinette’s studio had always fawned over him. Marinette had pretended to be immune to his good looks and charming smile, but even she harbored a secret crush on him.

And now she was his partner. Go figure.

Plagg finally got up from his stool with an exaggerated stretch, his back popping. He padded over to the door. 

“Hey, Adrien, where does your dad keep the good cheese?” he asked. Adrien tossed a key at the man.

“Third drawer down. He’s gonna be pissed that you got in again.”

“He hasn’t fired me yet.”

Adrien only grunted in response. Plagg grinned and slipped out of the room, shutting the door quietly behind him. Tikki sighed.

“That man is going to get himself in trouble,” she said. “But with him out of the way, we can get down to business. Adrien, you all stretched out?”

Adrien nodded, even as he stretched his arms in front of him. Tikki’s eyebrow shot up but she said nothing, turning back to Marinette.

“Do you think you’re ready to dance again, or do you need another minute to recharge?”

Marinette took another long drink from her water bottle, then set it down and nodded at Tikki.

“I’m good now.”

They started off simple. Marinette had never done any duets before, so she didn’t quite know what she would have to do. Tikki walked them through a few simple steps that didn’t require touching. Plagg returned a few minutes later, carrying a small bag and wearing a Cheshire cat grin. He sat down on his stool to watch. 

“Good, good. Watch your arms, Marinette,” Tikki coached. “You can’t improvise right now. Adrien’s all over the place. Don’t want to hit him in the face.”

“Wouldn’t want to break him,” Plagg called, munching on a piece of cheese. Adrien let out a short laugh. Tikki rolled her eyes.

“That’s enough, Plagg. They need to focus. Leave them be.”

Plagg snorted, but said nothing further.

“Okay, next we’re going to try a move that involves touching, so be ready for that,” Tikki said. Marinette’s heart stopped working, and a thousand tiny Marinettes ran around in her head, screaming and waving their arms.

Touching.

A part of her was listening to Tikki’s careful coaching, drinking in all the words that the more experienced ballerina was giving her, but the rest of her was running wild in her own mind.

_Touching._

A simple word that held so much. 

_TOUCHING._

The two of them started to dance again, moving in sync, until Adrien’s hands met Marinette’s waist. She tried not to squeak, but couldn’t help a sharp intake of air that slid past her lips. Every nerve seemed to fire at once. Her body was still moving, carrying out the steps that Tikki was asking them to, but her mind was somewhere else, focusing on the two large, warm hands on her waist. 

_Dammit, Marinette. Focus._

She snapped out of it a little and finished out the short routine, landing a little awkwardly. Tikki nodded, her lips pressed together.

“The two of you work wonderfully as a team. I think you’ll make an excellent pair for the upcoming show.”

“What is it?” Marinette found herself asking. Tikki’s eyes twinkled.

“The Nutcracker. It is getting close to that time of year.”

Marinette barely held in a squeal of excitement. Ever since she was a little girl, she’d dreamed of performing in the Nutcracker. She’d auditioned every year, but had never made it in or been able to perform. This was her chance.

Tikki smiled a little at Marinette’s obvious ecstasy. 

“The most difficult dance is the final one between Clara and the nutcracker,” she said. “So we’ll start working on that one as soon as possible. Plagg and I played Clara and the nutcracker before, so we’ll show you the dance and help you through. Mr. Agreste changes the choreography every year, but this is the one dance that he insists stays the same. Plagg?”

Plagg sighed loudly, but set down his cheese and got up, stretching out.

“You’re going to need to let me warm up a little, Tikki,” he said, eyes twinkling. Tikki rolled hers.

“If you’d been helping me, you’d already be warmed up.” But she let him stretch and warm up and turned back to Adrien and Marinette. “The two of you have a great dynamic. It should be interesting to see you working together, especially after this ballet.”

Once Plagg had finished warming up, Tikki had Marinette and Adrien go and sit by the stereo.

“Track 13,” Plagg called out, getting into position. He winked at Tikki, who rolled her eyes but still smiled. Marinette was bouncing a little, excited to see Tikki dancing. Adrien lounged on the ground next to her while she perched on the stool. She hit “play” on the stereo.

The music started out soft, with a harp slowly rising in a slight crescendo. Strings joined in next, adding a bittersweet taste to the sound. Marinette let it fill her up, almost forgetting to watch the two mentors that were beginning to dance. 

Tikki moved with a grace that Marinette had never seen before. Plagg, who’d been nothing but sarcastic and a little annoying up until that point, had an expression of concentration. In contrast to Tikki’s flowing style, he had a slightly more controlled feel to his movements.  
Marinette was entranced, the music surrounding her and sending tingles down her spine all the way into her toes. The dance moved and flowed with the music, the two mentors moving faster as the music swelled and rose. Plagg lifted Tikki more than once, a real smile finally lighting his face when he did so. Tikki was smiling the entire time, clearly in her element. 

The final note found Tikki and Plagg entwined, Tikki’s feet off the ground. Plagg’s arms were wrapped around her waist. Marinette clapped enthusiastically, a smile breaking out across her face. Plagg slowly lowered Tikki to the ground, seeming almost reluctant to let her go. Marinette turned and switched off the music. 

“That was incredible,” she said, jumping up. “You two were incredible!”

Plagg’s hands finally left Tikki’s waist and Tikki smiled at Marinette.

“Soon enough you’ll be the one doing that dance,” Tikki said, giving Marinette a slightly saucy wink. “Come on. There’s much to be done. Rehearsal isn’t over for another hour, and the rest of the company won’t be here until tomorrow. We can get started on teaching you the dance now.”

Marinette gulped, her eyes flicking to Adrien. He got up from his seat on the floor, stretching out his arms with a smile. Marinette looked back at Tikki, panicking a little. 

“Aww, come on,” Adrien said, clearly sensing Marinette’s nerves. “I don’t bite.” 

Marinette flushed again. Tikki laughed.

“Come on, Marinette. I know it’s weird the first time, but you’ll get used to it. I know I did.”

“Yeah, a little too used to it,” Adrien muttered with a grin. Plagg smacked him on the back of the head on his way by, plopping down on his stool again. 

“Shut up and dance, Adrien.”

Marinette spent the rest of her first rehearsal trying really hard not to squeak every time Adrien’s hands came in contact with her body. Her blush felt like it would never go away. Tikki’s words of encouragement barely helped. Marinette was dancing with a boy she’d had a crush on for a long time. The blush wasn’t going to fade any time soon. 

They worked out a basic, rough sketch of how the dance went, occasionally watching Tikki and Plagg again. Marinette studied the way the two of them flowed together, like they were one dancer instead of two. That was the kind of harmony they needed to really make the dance work. Without it, everything would be off. 

By the end of the rehearsal, Marinette was fully in love with her new mentor and even more in love with her new partner. She picked up her bag, slinging it over her shoulder with a promise to see Tikki in the morning. Tikki fluttered her fingers in a wave, a few strands of coppery hair falling out of her bun. 

“See you tomorrow!”

Marinette smiled and turned to leave, but found herself smacking straight into a yellow leotard. She landed on her butt, startled.

“Who the hell are you supposed to be?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omg you have no idea how fun this was to write I just have so many feels about this au 
> 
> (More character intros in the next chapter)


	2. Chapter 2

Marinette blinked, the shock of being on her feet in one second and then on her butt the next catching up with her. She looked up at the person she’d run into, an apology already forming on her tongue. 

“Chloe,” Adrien said. “This is the new dancer, Marinette.” He offered Marinette his hand and pulled her to his feet. “Marinette, this is my friend Chloe Bourgeois.”

Chloe looked Marinette up and down and sneered.

“What dragged you through the door? An alley cat?” 

“Chloe,” Adrien sighed, his voice telling Marinette that Chloe did something similar on a regular basis. Marinette dusted off her skirt and studied the girl in front of her. She had light blonde hair pulled into a ponytail and a white skirt to go along with her yellow leotard. Her lip curled when she caught Marinette looking her up and down.

“You’re the one that auditioned from that amateur school.” Chloe sniffed, tossing her ponytail. “I suppose it does boost the studio’s image if we take in charity cases.”

Marinette’s spine curved as she curled in on herself a little.

“That’s enough, Chloe,” Tikki snapped, setting a hand on Marinette’s shoulder. “What are you doing here?”

Chloe’s mean-girl attitude melted away and she gave Tikki a sickeningly sweet smile, grabbing onto Adrien’s arm. 

“I’m here to see Adrien, of course!” she cried. “Since we’re besties! Anyway, Adrien, I’m auditioning for the part of Clara for the Nutcracker.”

“Too late,” Plagg said, punctuating the sentence with a snicker. “Marinette’s already got the role. She got it when she auditioned in.”

“WHAT?!”

Marinette flinched at the shriek that Chloe emitted, nervously tucking a strand of hair that had fallen from one of her pigtails behind her ear. Chloe’s face was red, her hands clenched into fists at her sides.

“My father will hear about this!” she shrieked, storming off. “You didn’t even hold a proper audition!”

Marinette gulped, her eyes flicking up to Tikki. Tikki gave Marinette a smile that straightened her spine.

“We did, actually,” Tikki said in a low voice. “I may or may not have neglected to tell her about it.”

Marinette laughed, adjusting the strap of her bag. 

“Chloe’s been a part of this studio for a long time,” Plagg said. “Her dad’s the mayor, so she got in without much of an audition. She’s pretty good, though, so we’ve kept her around.”

“She’s nice once you get to know her,” Adrien said. Tikki covered up her snort with a cough and said, “Adrien, your father wants you to stay and do some conditioning with me and Plagg for a little while longer, okay?”

Adrien nodded, then turned to Marinette.

“Sorry again about her. Have a nice night!” 

He turned away, heading back into the studio. Marinette waved a little, a smile spreading across her face.

“Bye…”

The door closed with a snap behind him and she jumped, blinking away her little trance. She flushed despite nobody being around and turned away, resolving to think about Adrien later and focus on getting home now.

Alya, her roommate and best friend practically since birth, pounced on her the second she stepped into their little apartment.

“How was it?” she demanded. “Did you meet Gabriel Agreste? Did you meet Adrien? What was he like? And the other dancers? Did they make you dance? Girl, tell me everything!”

Marinette laughed, prying Alya off and tossing her bag on the couch. 

“Give me some time to breathe, Alya!” she laughed. “I didn’t meet Gabriel, but I did meet Adrien.”

“What was he like?”

Marinette thought about her new partner. His kind smile and absolutely gorgeous eyes. The way he hadn’t laughed at her when she’d fallen. How he’d kissed her hand.

“He’s… charming. He’s my new dancer partner. We’re playing Clara and the nutcracker together.”

“What? You didn’t tell me you were _dancing_ with him!” She gasped again. “Wait, you guys are going to do the Pas de Deux!” 

“What?”

“The final dance between Clara and the nutcracker!” Now Alya was bouncing on her toes, her eyes wide with excitement. “It’s the only dance that’s the same every year and it’s the most intimate! And you’re doing it with _Adrien Agreste_! Your lifelong crush! I’m so excited for you!”

Marinette was flushed red. She stretched to keep herself from looking at her friend.

“Tikki and Plagg showed us the moves and we started going over some of it today.”

“This is _so_ going on my blog.”

Alya, ever the journalist, skipped off, no doubt to post everything Marinette had said on her blog. Marinette laughed a little. Alya was getting a degree in journalism and was currently obsessed with the Paris ballet scene. She followed Adrien as well as other prominent dancers in the two major ballet companies in Paris. The other, Le Papillion, was a rival company that Alya covered as well. Marinette hadn’t auditioned there. She’d heard less-than-savory things about how they treated some of their dancers.

Marinette rearranged some of the furniture so that she could do some conditioning, glancing out the window at the darkening sky. Streetlamps were beginning to flicker on, illuminating the Parisian streets with a soft glow. Marinette shrugged off her jacket and tossed it next to her bag, reaching down to touch her toes. She stretched a little more before she grabbed her iPod and put on some classical music to practice to. 

She started out with basic warm-ups – pliés and the like – before moving on to a few mini-routines that she’d learned when she first started dancing. After that, she began conditioning.

Conditioning was, without a doubt, the _worst_ part of being a ballerina. However, Mademoiselle Bustier had drilled it into Marinette’s head – conditioning was necessary and important. Without it, they wouldn’t be able to do half of the things they did. They needed it to build muscle and to keep in shape. 

Alya came back after a little while, filming Marinette on her phone. Marinette was a minute and a half into a plank, breathing slowly in and out.

“Marinette,” Alya said. “Tell me how it feels to be cast in the role as Clara in the upcoming Nutcracker.”

Marinette sighed, knowing that Alya wouldn’t go away until she got some answers. She stayed in her plank, speaking in a carefully controlled voice.

“It’s pretty cool, actually,” she said. “I’m excited for the experience and I’m really excited to be working with the dancers at Agreste.”

“And your new partner?”

Marinette internally groaned, feeling a slight flush creeping back onto her face.

“Adrien is….nice. He’s a good dancer.”

“Anything else?”

“No. I’m trying to do a plank, Alya.”

Alya laughed, then turned the camera to face herself.

“That’s all for tonight, peeps. Looks like Marinette’s a little grumpy. I’ll keep you updated on the most recent happenings in Paris’s ballet scene. Until then, peace out!”

She stopped recording and ran back towards her room, probably to upload the video. Marinette finished her plank, collapsing with a sigh of relief. She picked herself up and glanced at the clock. She’d been at it for a solid hour and it was almost time for dinner. She sighed again. She’d promised Alya that she would make crêpes for dessert. She needed to get started on dinner.

Alya questioned her even more over dinner, demanding all the details of Marinette’s rehearsal. She questioned her about Adrien, about Tikki and Plagg, even about Chloe. 

“How did you handle yourself around Adrien?” she finally asked. Marinette sighed, looking down into her food.

“I… well, I tripped and fell into his arms at first. That was embarrassing. Then I had trouble forming coherent sentences directed towards him and I was just blushing the whole time. Overall, not bad.”

“Better than I was expecting.”

“Hey!”

The two of them laughed and joked for the rest of the night, until it was time to go to bed. Marinette offered to do the dishes, wanting time to think. Alya wandered off to bed, bidding Marinette goodnight with a yawn. Marinette picked up her plate and rinsed it off in the sink, looking out at the dimly lit Paris streets.

Her first day at Agreste had been eventful, there was no denying that. She’d met her mentors, her partner, and at least one of the other ballerinas that was going to look down on her. She’d learned a lot from Tikki and Plagg about what would make a good duet and what made a good partnership. She’d also managed to make a fool out of herself in front of Adrien.

_He’s just another dancer_ , her brain said. _You can be professional, right?_

She snorted to herself at that thought.

_Yeah, right. I can barely string two words together around him._

_But what if it wasn’t him?_

Her fingers on the dishes stilled as she thought that over. What if it wasn’t him? What if it was someone else? That was an interesting idea. What if she just pretended that she wasn’t dancing with Adrien Agreste, her crush, but with just a random dancer? That would certainly make interacting with him inside the studio much easier.

_That’s ridiculous. Your imagination isn’t close to being good enough to pull this off._

_Might as well give it a try_ , she argued. She resolved to try it out in the morning and finished washing the dishes, dancing around the kitchen a little as she put them away. She shut the cupboards and turned off the light, pulling off her shirt as she walked over to her room. She tossed the shirt onto the laundry basket and stepped out of her workout shorts next. She grabbed a sleep shirt out of the open drawer in her dresser and pulled it on, collapsing straight into bed once she’d done so. 

She was going to get a good night’s sleep and wake up a new girl, she’d decided. She turned over onto her side, fluffing her pillow with a slight smile. 

It was going to be fun.

 

Marinette made it to her morning rehearsal on time. Tikki, Plagg, and Adrien were already in the studio, talking, when she entered. She glanced at the clock, noting that she was five minutes early. 

“Do you guys live here or something?” she joked, setting down her bag. Plagg was dressed all in black like the day before, the dark color matching his hair and offsetting his pale skin. Tikki had traded her red skirt and hair ribbons for black ones of an identical design.

“Only sometimes,” she said with a wink. “Let’s get started. Plagg, get your lazy ass up. You’re going to work today.”

Plagg made a show of getting up slowly and dragging his feet to the barre, but he quickly fell into routine with Tikki. Marinette smiled, following the warmups that Tikki was leading. Plagg was a little annoying, but she could tell he had a good heart and definitely liked what he did. He also definitely cared about Adrien.

After a little while, more dancers trickled in, doing their own warmups and chatting quietly. Marinette spotted Chloe. The girl that she’d run into the day before was also present, trailing behind Chloe. Chloe snapped her fingers and the girl handed over a bag. Chloe grabbed the bag and flounced off to the corner to fix her makeup. 

Tikki seemed to notice the new dancers and finished up the warmups that the four of them were doing. 

“Time to introduce you to the company,” she said quietly to Marinette. Marinette panicked a little. She wasn’t sure she wanted to be introduced to the company. She looked around at the dancers in the studio. These were the year-round dancers, the ones that performed in every show. She knew that more amateur dancers and some children would be auditioned in for minor roles later on. These dancers, however, were the professionals. 

“All right, listen up!” Tikki called, clapping her hands. She smiled warmly. “I’d like you to all give a big Agreste welcome to our newest dancer, Marinette!”

The dancers clapped politely, some of them looking Marinette up and down with a slightly disdainful expression. She tried to ignore them and focused on the ones that were smiling at her. 

“She’s playing Clara in the Nutcracker this year,” Tikki said. She gave the dancers a hard look. “I expect you all to be nice.” She perked up again. “Now that we’ve done that, Mr. Agreste has already assigned you all your different parts. The list is on the door, as well as which studio you’re in. Mr. Agreste has asked me to remind all of you to work hard and also to have fun. We’ll meet here tonight for conditioning!”

The babble returned as the dancers began filing out. Tikki turned back to Marinette and Adrien with a smile.

“For today, the two of you are in here,” she said. “Come on. Let’s get started.”

Marinette quickly learned that professionality, especially when it came to dance, was her strong suit. She could easily ignore who she was dancing with, pretending that Adrien was just a mannequin. A mannequin with _really_ nice muscles. 

Tikki and Plagg coached both of them, individually and as a pair. Marinette liked that they weren’t nearly as harsh as Mademoiselle had been. Tikki always gave out her criticism with a smile and a compliment as well as her corrections. 

Marinette found that if she focused less on Adrien and more on his chest, she was a lot more confident. She even threw back a few sarcastic snips. He seemed a little impressed by this, which didn’t surprise her. She’d been a bumbling mess the day before. 

They took a break around noon for lunch. Tikki led Marinette to the break room down the hall.

“This is where we have lunch and hang out,” she explained. “A lot of dancers go out for lunch or go home, but Plagg and I typically stay here. Adrien does too, but that’s because he practically lives here.”

“I _do_ live here,” Adrien said, flopping down in the chair next to Marinette. “I’ve slept in the studio a few times.”

“That’s because you overwork yourself,” Plagg scolded, ruffling Adrien’s hair on his way by. “You won’t do yourself any favors if you do that again.”

He sat down, stretching out and setting his feet on the chair next to him. He flicked the dangling edge of Tikki’s hair ribbon a few times. She shot him a look but didn’t ask him to stop. Plagg smirked and said to Adrien, “Can you give me the key to the cheese drawer again?”

Adrien rolled his eyes, resting his elbows on the table and propping his chin up on his hands. 

“My dad will fire you if you keep eating all the good cheese. You know he actually wants to eat some of that.”

“Not my fault France has the best cheeses in the world. If your dad wants to eat the cheese, he can keep it with him instead of where I can steal it.”

Adrien sighed, even as he flicked Plagg the key. Plagg grinned and got up, flicking Tikki’s ribbon again in a playful way before fiddling with a drawer behind his chair. After a second, Marinette heard an excited cry.

“Camembert!” Plagg whirled around, holding a block of cheese with a triumphant smile. “Your dad has good taste, Adrien.”

Adrien rolled his eyes. Marinette laughed, leaning on the table.

“I take it you like cheese, Plagg?”

“ _Like_ cheese?” Plagg looked almost offended. “I _adore_ cheese. I love cheese more than Tikki.”

Tikki smacked him on the back of the head, her cheeks holding the slightest flush. Plagg just grinned, clearly satisfied with himself. 

“You’re lucky I let you stick around,” she muttered, yanking the fridge door open. 

“Aww, come on, Tikki,” Adrien said. “You could do _cheddar_.”

Tikki and Plagg groaned in unison. 

“Not the puns again,” Plagg said. “Please not the puns again.”

“Oh, you’ve got to brie kidding me,” Adrien said, a grin spreading across his face. “I thought you liked my puns!”

Plagg tossed a plastic fork at Adrien while Marinette laughed. She was beginning to like the group dynamic. Tikki, Plagg, and Adrien were all clearly good friends and there was obviously a lot of history.

“Does Adrien make puns a lot?” she asked, looking up at Tikki. Tikki rolled her eyes.

“More than we’d like.”

“Hey, Marinette,” Adrien said, leaning over and raising his eyebrows at her. Marinette looked at him, a slight flush rising in her cheeks at the look he was giving her. But she ignored it.

“What?” she challenged. His grin widened.

“I don’t want to sound cheesy, but I think we dance really gouda together.”

Marinette rolled her eyes and turned back to Tikki, saying, “Grab me something to hit him with.”

Plagg laughed. 

“I think I like this one,” he said. Marinette smiled, crossing her legs with a feeling of satisfaction.

She was liking her new job too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is full of jokes that are mostly for my benefit and I had a lot of fun writing it. This story has gotten so much of a positive response though, like wow you guys are making me blush.... :D


	3. Chapter 3

Professionality wasn’t an issue. Marinette found that when in the studio, she didn’t care who she was dancing with. She had her job to do and she was going to do it. She loved her new job. She’d always dreamed of dancing professionally, and now she was doing it. No, professionality in the studio wasn’t the problem.

It was what happened _outside_ the studio that was killing her.

It started out simple. She’d have the day off and she’d be in a café near the studio, eating lunch before going over to practice. She would be minding her own business, and then Adrien would plop down in the chair across from her and flash her a disarming smile, and then she would dissolve into a bumbling mess.

Adrien didn’t seem to get it, which Marinette could understand. She acted differently in the studio because she was there to dance, not to flirt. But once she stepped out, she shed that costume and went back to being regular old Marinette. Studio Marinette was professional and didn’t flirt with Adrien. Regular old Marinette couldn’t string two sentences together around Adrien.

She noticed that he was different in and out of the studio as well. He was more confident and flirtatious in the studio. He made terrible puns about everything he could. Outside of the studio, he was a little more withdrawn. He was incredibly kind and sweet and had a penchant for the cookies that Marinette’s parents made in their bakery. She wondered which version of him was more like his true personality sometimes.

As the weeks wore on, Marinette found herself in the studio practicing more and more often. Tikki had given her a key so that she could come in at night and rehearse. Alya had begun to complain about not getting any sleep due to Marinette’s inability to stop working sometimes.

Adrien joined her often. They practiced dances that they had together, like the Pas de Deux and a dance in the first act that they were doing in masks. They also practiced separately, occasionally spotting for the other’s solo. Marinette found it easier to talk to him about ballet and dance. It was a common language for the two of them. If the topic strayed, however, it became infinitely more difficult to form coherent sentences.

As winter drew nearer, the soloists were determined. Marinette also found out that the quiet girl she’d run into on her first day at Agreste, Sabrina, was playing the peacock. Chloe was the Sugar Plum Fairy, which had already gone to her head. She kept bragging about being a good dancer who deserved the part of Clara too. Marinette typically tried to avoid her.

She spent a lot of time outside of the studio hanging out with Tikki. The two of them would meet at a little café and share a drink or some pastries and just talk.

“So, Marinette,” Tikki said, resting her elbows on the small table and smiling cheekily at Marinette. “Tell me about your crush on Adrien.”

Marinette nearly choked on her drink. She set down the cup, looking up at Tikki. Tikki’s smile widened a little. Marinette tried to stall on answering the question, studying Tikki’s outfit while pretending to think. Tikki seemed to have a penchant for the color red and today was wearing a loose red sweater with black spots and red fingerless gloves. She had her usual red ribbons in her coppery hair, the ribbons today hanging down to her wrists.

“Marinette,” Tikki said, her voice carrying a slightly playful tone. “Stop staring at me and answer the question.”

“I was just thinking about the costume for Clara,” Marinette said innocently, looking back up at Tikki. “We could use ribbons like yours.”

Tikki rolled her eyes.

“Marinette, I see the way you look at him sometimes. Don’t deny it.”

Marinette’s cheeks flushed. Tikki grinned even wider.

“I knew it! How long have you liked him?”  
Marinette traced the rim of her cup.

“A long time,” she admitted. “He was my celebrity crush when I was first starting to dance. It’s different now that I know him.”

“Different how? You still like him, right?”

Marinette scrunched her shoulders up by her ears, wanting to shrink into her seat.

“It’s okay if you really don’t want to tell me,” Tikki said, lifting her cup to her lips. “It’s your business. I simply noticed something that was obvious.”

“No, it’s okay,” Marinette sighed. “It’s just that I don’t really talk about it much with anyone other than Alya.”

“She’s your roommate, right?” Tikki asked. Marinette nodded.

“She’s supposed to meet us here in a few minutes. She really wanted to meet you. She wants to do an interview for her blog. You know, since you and Plagg played Clara and the nutcracker.”

“I understand. I’m excited to meet her. She seems really nice.”

“Hey,” a familiar voice said from somewhere next to Marinette. “Mind if we join you?”

Marinette’s pulse skipped and she looked up at Adrien, her cheeks slowly turning pink. He was standing next to an olive-skinned boy with a red baseball cap and chunky headphones hanging around his neck.

“Sure,” Tikki said, gesturing to the two empty chairs at the table she and Marinette had chosen. “Sit on down.”

Adrien took a seat on Marinette’s left and the other boy sat on her right.

“We were just in the area and saw you guys and thought we might join you,” Adrien said. “I hope we aren’t intruding on anything.”

“Of course not,” Tikki said, nudging Marinette under the table. Marinette just let out a little squeak, her cheeks burning as she locked her gaze on the drink sitting in front of her. Tikki sighed. “We were just talking about Marinette’s costume. She was thinking about doing ribbons like mine.”

“That sounds great,” Adrien said, turning to look at Marinette. “You said something about making the costume yourself this year, right?”

Marinette nodded, finally finding her voice.

“In all the productions I’ve danced in, I’ve made my own costumes,” she said. “This year I’m making Clara’s costumes.”

“Dude, that’s so cool!” the guy that had come in with Adrien said, grinning wildly. “I can’t even make an egg, and here you are making a whole costume!”

“Right, I forgot to introduce you guys. Marinette, this is my friend Nino. He’s our sound designer for the show. He runs the sound board during the performances.”

“I also DJ on the side,” Nino said, handing Marinette a small slip of paper. “That’s my card.”

Marinette looked down. The card bore the words, “Nino – DJ and rad dude” and a phone number. She giggled and slipped the card in her pocket.

“Thanks, Nino. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Same to you,” Nino said.

“Marinette!” Alya said, her phone slamming onto the table next to Marinette. “Sorry I’m late, but there was an issue with my blog that I had to address.”

“It’s okay,” Marinette said. “Adrien was just introducing us to his friend Nino. Pull up a chair."

Alya stole a chair from a nearby table and sat next to Tikki, on Nino’s right, so that she could conduct her interview. She started and audio recording and told the others at the table to hush up so that she could get a good quality interview. Adrien shot Marinette an amused look.

Alya grilled Tikki for a good forty-five minutes, right up until their late afternoon break was over.

“Alya, we need to get back to the studio,” Marinette said, laughing a little. “Our break is over.”

Alya sighed, turning off her phone.

“I’ll do another interview another time if you really want,” Tikki said, the corners of her mouth twitching. “And I’ll see if I can drag Plagg along next time.”

“Hey, Mademoiselle Blogger,” Nino said, leaning over to smirk at Alya. “These guys have to go, but maybe you and I could hang out a little.”

Alya looked him up and down, a smile tugging at her lips.

“All right, Monsieur DJ. How about you buy me a coffee?”

Nino grinned and got up to go get the coffee. Marinette laughed and said goodbye to Alya, grabbing her bag so that she could head for the studio. Adrien and Tikki followed behind, saying their own goodbyes.

“She seems nice,” Adrien said. “That was your roommate, right?”

“Yeah, that was Alya,” Marinette said. “We’ve been best friends for as long as I can remember. She runs a blog on the ballet scene.”

“Yeah, I think I’ve seen it around.”

“Imagine her excitement when I got into Agreste,” Marinette said. “I thought she was going to have a heart attack on the spot.”

Adrien laughed, the sound warming Marinette to her core. She blushed a little and pulled her sweater tighter around herself.

Plagg was waiting for them in the studio, stretching out.

“Excellent, you two are here,” he said. Marinette’s eyes travelled from him to the group of children sitting behind him. “Tikki, the kids are here.”

Tikki’s eyes brightened.

“Awesome!” She turned to Marinette. “We auditioned these children in for some parts in the show. You two are going to be their mentors.”

Marinette's eyes widened.

“Do we need to learn their choreography?”

“Yes, but it’s really simple. Today’s just an introduction day. Besides, Plagg and I already made a video of their choreography this year for you two to go over.”

Marinette counted the children. There only eight in all, four boys and four girls. Tikki started explaining to Marinette and Adrien that they would have to pair them off and work with them like that. Marinette glanced over at Adrien. His posture had changed already, making him look more confident, and he was smiling at the nervous children.

“So, that’s it,” Tikki said, clasping her hands. She looked between Adrien and Marinette, smiling. “Do you guys have any questions?”

Marinette’s gaze snapped to her and she panicked a little. She hadn’t been paying attention.

“No, I think we’ve got it,” Adrien said. “Thanks, Tikki.”

"I need to go change,” Marinette murmured. “I’ll be right back.”

Adrien nodded.

“I’ll start out with them,” he said quietly. She nodded, already settling back into her studio mindset. She needed to focus. She had to mentor children. Not exactly in her job description, but to be expected.

When she returned to the studio in the red leotard and black skirt she’d borrowed from Tikki, Adrien had already lined up the kids on one of the barres and was having them do some basic warmups.

“Glad to see you’ve re _turned_ , milady,” he said, adjusting one of the girl’s turnout with a wink. Marinette rolled her eyes, grabbing her pointe shoes from the shelf and sitting down to tie them on.

“What exercises have you done?”

“The usual,” he said. “We’ve done pliés and tondues and right now we’re just doing some basic arm stuff.”

“Awesome.” Marinette finished tying the ribbons of her shoes and stood, walking over to where the young kids were still moving through their warmups. She smiled, clasping her hands behind her back.

“Hi,” she said. “Welcome to Agreste. You’ve already met my partner, Adrien. I’m Marinette. You might know that we’re playing Clara and the nutcracker this year. We’re very excited to work with you guys and we hope you feel the same way. I know that when I was your age, dance was everything and I would jumped at the opportunity that you have now."

Adrien jumped in.

“You could say that without ballet, your life would be _pointe_ less,” he said with a cheeky grin. Marinette put her face in her hands while the kids laughed. Adrien bumped her shoulder.

“Can you not?” Marinette asked, her voice muffled by her hands.

“Nope.”

Marinette groaned again, shaking her head.

“You’re ridiculous,” she said, lifting her head out of her hands. She looked back at the kids at the barre. “Don’t stop just because Adrien is being distracting,” she called to them. “Let’s finish up with barre stuff so that we can move on.”

Once the kids had finished warming up, Marinette started them on some across-the-floor exercises. They did those for a while. They’d used up about three-fourths of the time that they had when Marinette finally decided to watch the DVD Tikki had given them.

“Can you supervise while I go watch the choreography?” she asked Adrien. “I’d like to get an idea of what we need to work on.”

He nodded and promised to keep them under control. Marinette grabbed the DVD that Tikki had left and headed for the break room. They had a TV in there.

Tikki and Plagg appeared onscreen after a few seconds. Plagg winked cheekily at the camera before he and Tikki went through the basics one time. Marinette rewound and watched again, memorizing the look and some of the more complex-looking steps. She paused the video, resolving to watch the rest later, and headed back to where she’d left Adrien with the kids.

He was standing with them sitting at his feet and animatedly telling them some kind of story. Most looked enraptured by whatever tale he was spinning. He spoke with his hands, his fingers fluttering and dancing as they acted out his story. Marinette settled her hands on her hips, standing in the doorway and glaring at his back. He didn’t seem to notice and kept talking.

After a minute, one of the kids noticed Marinette standing there. She giggled, then immediately pressed her hand over her mouth, eyes darting up to Adrien. Marinette fought a smile. The girl elbowed the boy sitting next to her, tipping her chin towards Marinette. The chain went on until each of them had noticed Marinette standing there and were all holding in giggles. Adrien finally noticed that something was wrong and said, “What are you guys laughing at?”

He turned around comically slowly, his eyes landing on Marinette standing in the doorway. She fixed him in her glare.

“You weren’t supposed to tell stories,” she said. “What happened to, ‘I’ll take care of it’, hmm?”

A few giggles came from the group of kids sitting cross-legged on the floor. Adrien offered Marinette a lopsided smile that did _not_ make her stomach flutter, no it did _not_ , and said, “They wanted to hear a story.”

Marinette rolled her eyes and finally walked into the room. The kids scrambled to their feet as she approached. She smiled at them.

“You guys are fine. Since Adrien is letting you slack a little, I think it’s my turn. Who here wants to see us dance?”

Every single hand shot up.

 

One of the girls sat on the stool, ready to hit the button on the stereo when Marinette gave the say-so. She turned to face Adrien, a slight smile on her face. He’d turned beet-red when she suggested that they dance for the kids. The remaining seven were sitting cross-legged in front of the mirror, chins cupped in their hands as they eagerly waited to see their mentors dancing. Marinette reminded them that the dance was not perfect yet and they were still working out some of the kinks. They didn’t seem to care.

Marinette nodded at the girl sitting at the stereo. She looked back at Adrien, who had that insufferable smirk on again. The girl hit the “play” button, starting the music.

It started out with the two of them slowly dancing around each other, passing close by but never touching. Marinette could feel the music seeping into her limbs, running down her spine and guiding her into the dance. They finally met as the strings joined with flutes, the melody getting a little sweeter. Adrien’s hands landed first on her waist, guiding her through a turn and then a dip. They moved together as one, the dance shifting and flowing with the music. She stretched her leg up, practically kissing her knee before lowering the leg.

A turn and then she was spinning away from Adrien, but still using him as her spotting point. He was standing still, arm stretched out towards her. She stopped, then did a running leap back into his arms. This one ended in a lift, one that they had yet to perfect. She hoped she wouldn’t fall like she had the time before.

He grabbed her out of her leap and lifted her up, spinning her around. She almost forgot to finish the move before he set her down and they kept going. A smile spread across her face. That was the first time that they’d done that lift right. Her waist tingled where he’d lifted her.

She messed up a little on the second lift and they had yet to perfect the finishing pose, but she felt like they’d done well. Adrien lowered her, his eyes on her face with a dumbstruck expression. He gave her a slightly goofy grin once her pointe shoes had touched the floor.

The kids were applauding, but Marinette barely heard it, drowning slowly in the endless green depths of Adrien’s eyes. He was so close, pressed up against her. She could smell his cologne, subtle and faint, and the barest traces of shampoo clinging to the messy strands of his hair.

“Well, that was certainly something else,” a new voice said. Marinette and Adrien jumped apart, each of their faces reddening a little. There was a man in a purple suit standing in the doorway. He watched Marinette with an unreadable expression. 

“You’re a very talented dancer, young lady.”  
Marinette flushed even more.

“Thank you,” she said. The man held out his hand to shake.

“I work at Le Papillion,” he said. “If you’re ever interested, we always have a place for a talented young dancer like yourself.”

“Dad!” One of the girls jumped up and ran to hug the man. He smiled, hugging the little girl back.

“Hello, Manon. Did you have fun?”

“Marinette and Adrien are amazing dancers,” the girl said to her father seriously. “I’m gonna grow up and be just like them.”

The man laughed, ruffling his daughter’s hair.

“I bet you will.”

A few other parents appeared behind the man in the purple suit. He handed Marinette his card before walking out with his daughter clinging to his hand and chattering about ballet. The other parents collected their kids and thanked Adrien and Marinette for their time. Marinette stood there, stunned, watching the kids file out, until finally it was just her and Adrien in the studio. She looked down at the small white card clutched between her slim fingers. Adrien set his hand on her shoulder.

“I’ll – uh, I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said. He grabbed his bag on the way out the door, and then Marinette was alone.

_Le Papillion was interested in her._

Two months ago, she would’ve laughed if someone told her she’d get into Agreste. Now another professional ballet company was showing interest in her. One that had traveled Europe. What if she did join?

The card fluttered from her fingertips.

She’d never see Adrien again.

She blinked, looking down at the slip of paper that had landed at her feet. This was crazy. How could she be considering joining another ballet company? She loved where she was. She shook her head, as if she could shake all thoughts of Le Papillion out of her mind.

She gathered up her things, throwing the business card onto the table in the break room. Maybe she’d show Tikki later and they could have a good laugh about it. She sat down heavily in one of the chairs and pulled off her shoes, tucking them in her bag. She didn’t feel like fully changing, so she slipped on a pair of legwarmers to protect her calves from the October chill and stuck her feet in her street shoes.

A slight breeze was blowing through the streets as she walked back to the apartment she shared with Alya. The sun was just beginning to set. Marinette spotted a few Halloween decorations in a couple store windows and smiled. That particular holiday was one of her favorites. Children always came to her door demanding candy, dressed up in the cutest costumes. She enjoyed watching their faces light up when she pulled out a tray of homemade treats for them to eat.

She was rifling through her purse, looking for her key, when she noticed something sitting on the ground.

A teddy bear.

She groaned. Alya had someone over, probably Nino. This happened very rarely, and often led to Marinette going over to her parents’ for dinner. But her parents were in the south for their anniversary. She wondered if she could maybe sneak in and just go straight to bed. She checked her phone to see if Alya had maybe sent her a heads-up text and she just hadn’t noticed. She was met with something much worse.

_Hey, Marinette. You left your keys at the café. I grabbed them for you, but you’re going to need to text me when you get home so I can let you in._

“Just great,” Marinette muttered. “I bet you sent that before you knew Nino was going to be over later.”

She sighed, dragging one hand down her face. Where was she going to go? Alya was going to be “busy” for at least a couple hours, if previous experience was to be trusted. She glared at the teddy bear sitting on the ground for another second before turning and heading out of the building.

She went the only place that she could – the studio. The janitor was kind enough to let her in, as long as she promised to lock up when she left. She headed back towards their usual studio, pulling her pointe shoes out of her bag. She was already pretty warmed up, but did a few stretches just in case before putting her practice CD in the player and beginning.

It was going on midnight when she stopped, bone-tired. She could tell that she was going to regret her late-night session in the morning. She packed up her things, turned to leave, and found herself staring at Adrien Agreste.

"Hey,” she said, surprised. “How long have you been standing there?”

He shrugged, a smirk playing along his lips.

“A while. You’re different when you’re dancing alone. It’s interesting to watch.”

She flushed a little and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

“What are you doing here so late?” she asked. He crossed his arms over his chest.

“I could ask you the same thing.”

“Nino’s over at my apartment and Alya’s got the teddy bear in front of the door and I left my keys at the café earlier today so I can’t get inside. Not that I’d want to, considering what the teddy bear means.”

Adrien laughed, letting her walk past him towards the break room.

“Yeah, Nino texted me earlier today saying that he was ‘going over to that hot blogger’s apartment to score.’ I figured he meant Alya and hoped they might finish up before you got home, for your sake.”

Marinette laughed.

“The teddy bear was still there when I showed up and I didn’t have a key, so I came here,” she said. “I figured I might as well do something constructive with my time while my roommate’s hooking up.”

They reached the break room and Marinette noticed that the small white card for Le Papillion was gone.

“Huh,” she said, frowning. Adrien walked in behind her.

“What is it?”

“That guy’s card was gone. I was going to show Tikki. I thought she might get a kick out of it.”

Adrien’s expression darkened a little.

“Nobody finds Le Papillion funny around here,” he muttered. Marinette was taken aback.

“What do you mean?”

He sighed, dragging one hand through his hair.

“Le Papillion likes to come in and take dancers right out from under our noses. The good ones, too. They get snatched up, usually at the beginning of their career. We’ve lost a lot of dancers to them.”

“Oh.” Suddenly Marinette’s encounter was much less amusing. “I understand.”

Adrien suddenly grabbed her shoulders. Startled, she looked up into his eyes. They were wide with… was that panic?

“Promise me you won’t go to Le Papillion,” he said, shaking her a little. “Promise!”

Marinette was more surprised than scared, but she said, “I – I promise!”

Adrien let out a sigh and relaxed. A second later, he was pulling her against his chest, his arms wrapped around her.

“Thanks,” he murmured softly. “That means a lot.”

Marinette stood there in his embrace, not sure what to do. She tentatively slid her arms around him. When she got no reaction other than a tightening of his hold on her, she hugged him back, shutting her eyes and burying her face in his shoulder.

He let go of her after a minute, clearing his throat awkwardly and averting his eyes.

“Do you want something to drink?” he asked, clearly trying to ease the mood. Marinette nodded numbly and sat down at the table. He rummaged through the cabinets, gathering up two glasses. She watched his back, observing how the muscles flexed and shifted under the fabric of his shirt as he moved.

_Get your mind out of the gutter_ , she scolded herself. _He’s your partner, remember?_

He started looking for something in the fridge. Marinette’s attention wandered, her mind going off on a thousand tangents.

She didn’t even realize she’d fallen asleep until she felt someone lift her up out of the chair. She stirred a little, reaching out for something.

“Shh,” Adrien said quietly. “There’s a couch that I sometimes sleep on. I think it’ll be more comfortable than the chairs at the table.”

Marinette was too sleepy to do much more than just nod. She let her head fall back onto his chest. He set her down on a semi-soft surface at some point, arranging her slim limbs so that she was lying comfortably. He lifted her head and slipped a pillow beneath it. Marinette shifted to get a little more comfortable. A second later, he draped a blanket over her, tucking her toes in.

“I’m sleeping here tonight too,” Adrien whispered. “I’ll be right here if you need me, okay?”

Marinette shut her eyes, smiling a little.

“Thank you, Adrien,” she murmured, the heavy fog of sleep taking over her mind. She felt him brush a few strands of hair out of her face. His lips pressed to her forehead.

“It was my pleasure, my lady.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh this was so fun to write
> 
> I'm trying to parallel canon as much as possible (hence the costume designing and a couple other things) but please note that I have taken artistic liberties
> 
> Hope you liked!! Shits going to start going down in the next chapter so be prepared


	4. Chapter 4

Marinette stirred, stretching out. She pulled the blanket around her and turned over. When she didn’t fall back asleep and instead grew more awake, she grumpily opened her eyes.

“Good morning,” Adrien said. Marinette’s brain kick-started and she sat straight up, panicking a little because _holy hell it’s Adrien and he’s not wearing a shirt._

“I started making some breakfast,” Adrien said. “I wasn’t sure exactly what you would want, so they’re just eggs. Is that okay?”

Marinette opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She was trying to process where she was, why Adrien was there, and why he would be shirtless.

“You fell asleep,” Adrien said, flipping over the egg that he was cooking on the small camp stove. “Which makes sense, of course. You were here practicing for hours. It was midnight. You never stay later than ten. Anyways, I moved you to the couch so you’d be more comfortable.”

Marinette blinked, her brain finally catching up with her.

“Where did you sleep?” she asked. His lips twitched into a smile.

“The floor.” He used the spatula to point at a pile of blankets next to the couch.

Marinette nodded and swung her legs off the couch. Adrien turned back to the eggs he was cooking, sliding them onto a plate.

“There’s a bathroom down the hall with a shower,” he said to her, pointing with one hand while salting the eggs with another. “Tikki came by earlier and dropped off something for you.”

“What time is it?”

“About nine thirty.”

Marinette nodded and slipped her shoes on, standing and stretching out her back. She headed down the hall to the bathroom that Adrien had pointed out. There was a small backpack sitting by the door with a little slip of paper resting on the top that read, “For Marinette.” Marinette smiled and picked it up, searching through the contents. Tikki must have stopped by her apartment to get her some clean clothes from Alya. There was also a toothbrush and toothpaste as well as travel-sized shampoo and conditioner. At the bottom, Tikki had left a little note.

_You have no idea how many times I’ve had to put together one of these for Adrien. I hope everything you need is in here. I’ll see you soon. Love, Tikki_

Marinette smiled. At least Tikki was looking out for her.

She showered quickly and got dressed. The shirt that Tikki had packed for her was a little big, she noticed. Maybe it was one of Alya’s. She shook off her confusion and finished dressing, running a comb through her wet hair.

Adrien was still in the break room when she returned, tying her hair into her usual pigtails. He hadn’t put on a shirt yet, the idiot.

“Your breakfast is right here,” he said, pointing with his fork at the spot at the table next to him. “Did you find everything you need?”

Marinette nodded, setting her things down.

“Tikki’s a real sweetheart,” she said. “Where’s your shirt, by the way?”

Adrien grinned.

“You’re wearing it.”

Marinette let out a little gasp, looking down at herself. The loose black t-shirt did smell like Adrien. She turned bright red, looking back up at him. He shrugged, shoveling more eggs in his mouth.

“Alya wasn’t home when she went over and Tikki didn’t have anything else for you, so I donated my shirt.”

“But – but–”

“It’s fine, really,” Adrien said, a sweet smile spreading on his face. “I can grab another one from the locker room. I’ve slept here overnight enough that I’ve got a few in there. It should do at least until you can get one of your own that actually fits.”

Marinette had run out of words and let out a little squeak instead. Adrien just smiled again and turned back to his breakfast. She finally looked down at her plate, unable to stop her stupid grin.

 

She ended up keeping the shirt, first because she forgot to give it back and then because she didn’t want to. She’d show up to rehearsal in her usual leotard with the loose black shirt over it. Tikki smirked the first time she saw it and Plagg muttered something about dumb kids, but neither of them said anything further. Adrien made no comment the first time she wore it to rehearsal, simply pulling at the hem of it as he walked by.

Halloween was only a week away. Marinette was busy altering her costume from the previous year. She didn’t like to make a new costume every year and typically recycled the same one for a few years before cutting it up to use for scraps. This year she was changing her Little Red Riding Hood costume into a ladybug. The original costume was from a ballet production a few years back. She figured it was probably that particular costume’s last year before it ended up in the scrap pile.

One of her favorite parts of rehearsals was mentoring the kids. She could see why Tikki and Plagg liked it so much. It was fun to watch the kids grow and learn as they worked through the dances. Manon, the little girl whose father had given Marinette his card, was one of her favorites. She had started to put her hair in pigtails in imitation of Marinette.

Adrien and Marinette had been working with the rest of the cast more. Marinette liked most of them. They hadn’t hesitated to welcome her with arms wide open.

With only one exception.

“Why would they put an _amateur_ in the role of Clara?” Marinette heard Chloe say to Sabrina. “She’s clearly not cut from the same cloth as the rest of us!”

“I think that’s what makes her unique,” Sabrina said quietly, sneaking a glance over at Marinette, who was warming up at the barre. Marinette pretended not to notice. “She’s different. That makes her more interesting.”

“It’s not fair,” Chloe said. “My father says that Gabriel should have taken someone from within the company to play Clara, not some girl from the streets.”

“Technically, she is in the company–”

“Shut up,” Chloe snapped. “Go get my makeup bag, my eyeshadow smudged.”

Marinette curled her lip a little. The way Chloe treated Sabrina was downright awful. She couldn’t fathom why Sabrina stuck around.

Sabrina handed Chloe her makeup bag and Chloe immediately started fixing both her eyeshadow and her lip gloss. Marinette rolled her eyes and stepped away from the barre so that she could do more stretches. She caught Chloe watching her in the mirror and raised one eyebrow.

“Marinette, are you checking out your competition?” Chloe asked smugly. Marinette rolled her eyes and ignored Chloe, sinking down into a split.

“Hey!” Angry footsteps approached Marinette. “I’m talking to you!”

Marinette looked up, surprised. Chloe was standing over her, hands on her hips. She wore an indignant expression.

“I’m sorry,” Marinette said, deciding to fake ignorance. “I wasn’t paying attention.”

“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing,” Chloe hissed. Marinette stood, confused. Chloe brandished a finger at her, jabbing her in the chest. “I see you flirting with him. First you steal my role, and now you’re looking to steal Adrien!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about–”

“Don’t play dumb. You’re wearing his favorite shirt. I see the way you look at him and I’m here to tell you to _back off_. He’s mine, you understand that? _Mine_. I don’t care if you think you’re all that just because you came in from another studio. I’m not letting you take Adrien.”

“Chloe, I’m not trying to take anything–”

Chloe’s hand whipped across Marinette’s face. Marinette’s head snapped to the side and she stumbled back a step or two, fingers flying to her already stinging skin. She raised her eyes from the floor to look at Chloe, stunned. Surprise turned quickly to fury and she stood up straight, her hands clenching at her sides.

“I’m not going to let you push me around,” she said, anger simmering in her voice. “You might think you can make me do what you want, but I won’t.”

Chloe’s eyes bugged.

“You’re a charity case!” she yelled, her arms waving. “You’re here because it makes the studio look good! You have no right to act like you belong here because you _don’t_!”

Marinette stood her ground.

“I’m here to dance, not have a debate over whether or not I’m good enough for the part I have,” she said calmly, keeping down her frustration and hurt. “I can only hope that I’m good enough.”

Chloe stood there, glaring at her, and opened her mouth to say something more when a voice snapped throughout the room.

“Chloe, that’s _enough_.”

Chloe whipped around to see Plagg standing a few feet away, rage barely controlled on his face. Tikki was standing at his side, her hands clenched into fists by her sides. Marinette’s gaze slid to the right, where Adrien stood with a shell-shocked expression.

“If you wouldn’t mind stepping outside with me for a minute, Chloe,” Plagg continued, crossing his arms over his chest, “That would be greatly appreciated.”

Chloe’s mouth hung open for a second. She snapped it shut and threw one last piercing glare at Marinette before stalking out of the studio. The rest of the dancers had fallen silent. Tikki and Plagg followed Chloe out, their anger practically tangible.

The second the three of them had left, Adrien rushed over to Marinette. He grabbed her face and tilted her head to get a better look at the cheek Chloe had gotten.

“A backhand, too,” he muttered. He shook his head. “I’m sorry about all of this.”

“It’s not your fault,” Marinette said. Adrien didn’t seem to hear her and said, “Let’s go get you some ice, okay?”

He led her out of the studio, away from the whispers and eyes of the other dancers. They passed by a closed door from behind which they could hear Tikki and Plagg yelling. Adrien kept going, his face set in an unreadable expression as they wound through the studio to the break room. He sat Marinette down at the table and began rifling through the freezer. Marinette twisted her hands in her lap, unsure what to do.

“Adrien,” she started. “I think I may have provoked Chloe–”

“You didn’t do anything,” he said, turning around with an ice pack in his hand. He pressed it to her face, smiling at her a little. “She’s just jealous.”

“Why would she be jealous of me?” Marinette wondered, taking the ice pack from him. “She’s the mayor’s daughter. She can have whatever she wants.”

_Except you, apparently._

“You’re twice the dancer she is,” Adrien replied nonchalantly. He turned away from Marinette again, shrugging. “She can’t handle that.” He slammed the freezer shut and grabbed an apple off the shelf.

Marinette’s cheeks had gone pink at the praise.

“That was impressive, by the way,” Adrien continued. “How you stood up to her. You didn’t take that shit for a second.”

“I don’t like people who push other people around just for kicks.”

Adrien said nothing to that, just smiled and bit into his apple. The two of them sat there in silence for a little while. Marinette wondered when they would need to get back to the studio. She was there to dance, after all. But Adrien made no move to leave or even get up. So they continued to sit there. Marinette picked at the sleeve of Adrien’s shirt, inhaling slowly to catch the faint scent of him that it still carried. Chloe had said it was his favorite. Was that really true? If it was, why would he give it to her?

There were many pieces of the puzzle that was Adrien Agreste.

When he’d finished his apple, he threw away the core and checked Marinette’s face again.

“It looks like it’s going to bruise a little,” he told her. “But it shouldn’t be that bad.”

He kept his hands on her face, staring into her eyes.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked quietly. Marinette nodded.

“I’m fine. Come on. I’m sure Tikki and Plagg are wondering where we are.”

She stood up and headed back for the studio, Adrien trailing close behind. When they got back to the big rehearsal, the dance that everyone was rehearsing was one from the first act, one that the two of them weren’t in. Tikki spotted Marinette and hurried over.

“Chloe isn’t going to be here for a few days,” Tikki said in a low voice. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, really,” Marinette insisted. “It’s just a bruise. What do you want us to do?”

“Head over to the empty studio and practice Pas de Deux. I’ll send someone for you when we need you again. Sound good?”

Marinette nodded, her brain already three steps ahead. They needed to work on a couple of the lifts, and the finishing pose. Plagg came over and checked on both of them before they left. Marinette grabbed her pointe shoes out of her bag and headed for the studio without checking if Adrien was following. She was going over steps in her head, her mind swimming with terms and choreography.

“Hey,” Adrien said, jogging to catch up with her. He set one hand on her shoulder. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

“Hmm? Oh, yeah, sorry. Just thinking. We need to work on the lifts and the finishing poses the most, but I was thinking that we should run over the whole thing at least once or twice before we do that.”

She kept talking, explaining her plan for their little rehearsal as they walked, until they’d reached the small studio that they typically practiced in. Adrien hurried ahead of her so that he could hold the door open for her, bowing a little with a cheeky grin. Marinette rolled her eyes and flicked on the lights.

“Let’s start out with the first lift,” Marinette said, dropping her bag on the floor and turning to face him.

The two of them ended up practicing for about an hour before anybody came to get them. They were practicing the final pose, wrapped around each other with Marinette’s feet off the ground, when she heard a soft knock on the frame of the door. Adrien carefully set Marinette down. Sabrina was standing at the door. She blushed when the two of them turned to her.

“Tikki and Plagg want you back in the big room to work on the ballroom dance,” she said. Marinette nodded.

“Thanks, Sabrina. We’re right behind you.”

Marinette stepped away from Adrien, smoothing down the shirt she still wore over her leotard. His hands finally left her waist.

“Good rehearsal,” she said, not meeting his eyes. “Come on, let’s go.”

“Marinette–”

But she had already grabbed her bag and was heading out.

He chased after her, catching up so that he was walking next to her.

“Your face looks better,” he commented. Marinette absentmindedly reached up and brushed the bruised skin with her fingertips.

“Yeah, it feels better too. I’m sure the bruise will fade in a few days. Thank God the swelling’s gone down.”

They lapsed back into silence for the rest of the walk back to the studio. Tikki handed Marinette a mask the second she walked through the door.

“You know, Tikki, if you want me to cover the bruise, you could just give me some makeup,” Marinette joked. Tikki rolled her eyes.

“It’s for the ballroom dance. You and Adrien are in masks, and I need you to start working through the dance with the masks. You’ve got the steps down, right?”

Marinette nodded, looking down at the mask in her hands.

“So we hold them up like this?” she asked, lifting the mask so that it covered her face, but didn’t touch. The mask was stiff, glued to a stick that she was supposed to hold. She peered through the eyeholes and saw Tikki nod.

“You’re going to have to hold it in front of your face throughout the entire dance,” she explained. “That’s the most difficult part. The choreography allows for that, of course.” She turned away from Marinette and said, “All right, everybody, places if you please!”

Plagg was sitting on a stool by the stereo and hit the button when Tikki told him to. Marinette and Adrien waited in the “wings” before they made their entrance. It was awkward and difficult to dance with the masks. Marinette’s arm kept wanting to move away from her face and the mask was hard to see past. She wasn’t supposed to put it directly to her face, though, so holding it in exactly the right position while also being able to see past it was hard. She could tell that Adrien was having trouble as well, and took comfort in the fact that she wasn’t alone in her struggle.

It took a few run-throughs and more than one collision for her to get it right. They moved on to a few other dances after that. Marinette worked through both of her breaks, lunch and late afternoon, right up until the time when she and Adrien had to work with the kids. She wasn’t about to let it show, but what Chloe had said earlier had struck a nerve with her. She suddenly felt the urge to prove that she belonged at Agreste, and that annoyed her.

The kids filed in and Marinette pulled Adrien’s shirt off, tossing it on her bag and leaving her in just her pink leotard and skirt. She already had her pointe shoes on and was fiddling with the stereo system when Adrien walked in, returned from his late-afternoon break. He sidled up to her, flashing a charming grin.

“How is my lady doing?” he asked. Marinette shrugged.

“It’s just another day. How was your break?”

“Good. I talked to Nino and Alya begged me for an interview.”

“I bet she did.”

“I happily provided her with one.”

“I bet you did.”

“Hey.” Adrien set his hand on her shoulder.  
“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah,” Marinette said, turning to face him. 

She gave him a little smile. “I’m okay, I promise.”

She brushed past him and addressed the kids, starting them out on warmups.

“We’re going to be quick with warmups today, we’ve got a lot to work on!” she called. She positioned herself and started leading them through the warmups. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Adrien frown, but he started stretching and getting ready as well.

The kids were getting better and better at their choreography. Marinette was pleased with their work. She would be onstage with them for the performances, but it was important that they know the dance even without her there.

At the end of the rehearsal, after they’d done conditioning, Marinette sat all the kids down on the floor to talk while they waited for parents to pick them up.

“Halloween is coming up,” she said. “Is anybody going trick-or-treating this year?”

Almost all of them said they were.

“What are you dressing up as?”

There were two superheroes, a pony, a character from a book series, a frog, a witch, and two princesses. Marinette let each of the kids tell her about their costume. Adrien was leaning against the mirror behind her, arms folded across his chest, and occasionally jumped in with his comments.

“What about you?” Manon asked, tugging on Marinette’s skirt. “Are you dressing up?”

Marinette laughed.

“Of course I am.”

“What are you going to be?”

“I’m dressing up as a ladybug this year,” she said. Manon’s brow crinkled.

“A ladybug?”

“Yes, a ladybug. I’m making the costume myself, from an old ballet costume.”

“What about you?” Manon said, turning to Adrien. “What are you dressing up as?”

“A black cat,” he said simply, flashing the girl a wide grin. “I’m not making the costume like Marinette, but I will be handing out candy.”

Manon looked like she had more questions, but thankfully, Adrien and Marinette were saved by parents arriving to pick up their children. Manon’s father, the man in the purple suit, was wearing a smile that Marinette hadn’t seen before. It was almost… smug.

“Good to see you again, Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng,” he said to Marinette. “And you, Monsieur Agreste. I trust you’re doing well.”

“We are, thank you,” Adrien said, using the same clipped tone he always had when addressing the man. “Your daughter is an excellent dancer.”

“Yes, we’ll make a prima ballerina out of her yet,” the man said, ruffling Manon’s hair. “Come on, Manon. Your mother is waiting in the car.”

The two of them disappeared. Marinette waited until all of the kids had left before she packed up her stuff. She was ready to go home.

Adrien made small talk as the two of them cleaned up the studio, but Marinette’s heart really wasn’t in it. She was tired, so tired, and while she normally loved talking with Adrien, she just wanted to go home and collapse into bed and sleep for sixteen hours. But she answered him and tried to be polite without showing just how exhausted she was.

They were heading out of the studio when Sabrina ran up to them, in tears.

“Marinette, Adrien!” she cried. “Something horrible has happened!”

“What is it?” Adrien asked, putting himself a little in front of Marinette. “Did someone hurt you? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. It’s Chloe!”

Adrien’s expression changed, turning into something unreadable. He shifted back a little, his posture becoming more defensive.

“What happened with Chloe?” he asked. Marinette rolled her eyes a little. Chloe probably was rude to Sabrina again. She was most likely pissed about what had happened earlier that day. “Did she say something to you?”

Sabrina shook her head, tears rolling down her cheeks.

“She left,” was all she managed to choke out through a fresh wave of sobs. Adrien’s expression turned to one of dread.

“She left? Left what? Left Paris? Left France?”

“N-no! She left Agreste! She quit to go work at Le Papillion!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is so sadly pun less. :(
> 
> Hehe things are starting to go downhill
> 
> If any of y'all are worried, the next chapter is pretty much pure fluff with some minor plot stuff because life is laying a smack down on me rn and I don't have a ton of time to write a decent chapter, sorry :(  
> However I will try to get the next one up in the next few days so be on the lookout 
> 
> (I'm also posting updates to my tumblr - look for miraculousladybugtrashcan)


	5. Chapter 5

Marinette was sewing angry, something that usually never turned out well. She kept stabbing herself with the needle. Alya was sitting across the room, watching the scene with furrowed brows.

“Marinette, honey, you’re going to bleed onto your costume,” she said. Marinette threw the fabric down on the couch next to her in frustration. Even though she wanted to keep sewing, she knew Alya was right. Bloodstains wouldn’t “blend in” to the bright red fabric, as much as she told herself it might.

“It’s just–” She threw her hands up into the air. “She’s such a drama queen! First she slaps me, then she quits and goes to the competition! How did she even get that man’s name?” She let out a growl of frustration. “This isn’t right! Now we don’t have a Sugar Plum Fairy and it’s too late to bring in someone completely new! Gabriel is going to have to completely change the choreography to accommodate and _Sabrina_ , oh Sabrina’s just completely miserable and Adrien has been so stressed out lately everything is just falling apart.”

Alya moved to sit next to Marinette, setting her hand on her friend’s shoulder.

“It sounds like a mess,” she said quietly. Marinette nodded.

“It is. And I want to help, but I’m just a newbie and how am I supposed to know how to comfort Adrien and Sabrina? All I can give them is a distraction, and that’s the last thing the need right now.”

“Maybe it’s not,” Alya said slowly. A slow smile was spreading across her face. “Maybe a distraction is exactly what they need right now.”

Marinette glanced up at Alya.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, things are pretty stressful right now. Maybe a little distraction will ease that. Invite them over for Halloween.”

“Invite them over?” Marinette laughed. “Are you insane? I don’t let work and personal lives mingle.”

“You’re wearing one of Adrien’s shirts,” Alya pointed out. “Work life and personal life are married. There’s nothing you can do to stop it. Hell, I’ll invite them over myself.”

Marinette sighed. Alya was stubborn enough to do it. She considered the idea. Adrien seemed like he needed a friend now more than ever. The few times she’d seen him out of the studio after Chloe left, he’d been withdrawn and pensive, typically with his eyes cast to the ground. Marinette was starting to worry about him.

“Okay,” she sighed. “I’ll call him. Halloween’s tomorrow, though, so he might have plans already. Don’t get your hopes up.”

Alya just laughed and grabbed Marinette’s costume, saying she’d go take it to the sewing room. Marinette sighed again and picked up her phone. She dialed Adrien and waited with bated breath to see if he’d pick up.

“Hello?”

She let out a long, slow breath before responding. She pretended that it was somebody else she was talking to.

“Hi, Adrien. It’s Marinette.”

“Oh, hi, Marinette!” He sounded surprised, but not displeased. “What can I help you with?”

Marinette twisted a strand of her hair around her finger nervously.

“Well, Alya and I are doing a little celebrating for Halloween, and, uh, we were wondering if you wanted to come over and hang out with us for a little while. You can bring Nino if you want.”

“That sounds awesome,” Adrien said enthusiastically. “What time do you want me to be over?”

Marinette found herself grinning uncontrollably.

“Sometime around four,” she said, barely able to keep in her excitement. “OkayI’llseeyoutomorrowbye!”

She hung up and threw the phone across the couch, tossing her hands up in the air. She’d done it. She’d invited Adrien over.

“Alya!” she shouted. “Alya, I did it! I invited him over!”

“Clean the house!”

 

Marinette was putting the finishing touches on her costume when the doorbell rang. She carefully set aside the dress and ran to the door, checking herself in the mirror before opening up. Nino walked in, brushing right past her with a little, “Hey,” before calling for Alya. Marinette laughed to herself a little and turned back to Adrien. She froze, her eyes skimming up and down him.

“Bonsoir, mademoiselle,” he said with a grin. “I trust you’re doing well.”

He grabbed her hand and kissed her knuckles the way he had the first day they met. Marinette’s cheeks turned pink and she smiled a little.

Adrien was wearing tight black pants and a form-fitting short-sleeved black t-shirt. Marinette’s eyes traced the lines of his abs beneath the shirt, quietly appreciating them. He had a black mask covering his eyes and the upper half of his face and a pair of cat ears on his head. She spotted a tail swinging behind him.

“May I come in?” he asked. Marinette just nodded, stepping aside to let him come in to her apartment. He looked around appreciatively.

“Alya made snacks,” Marinette said, finally finding her voice. “Some are in the kitchen.”

“You’re not in costume yet,” he said, pouting a little. Marinette laughed, relaxing. This was just her goofy dance partner. Nothing to be nervous about.

“I was just putting on the finishing touches. Another minute and I’ll be done. Then I’ll put it on.”

She walked over to the couch and grabbed the costume. She sat down and stitched quickly, not wanting to be sitting there sewing while Adrien was over. She finished off the piece and snapped the thread, tossing the sewing supplies to the side. She held up the finished piece, grinning proudly.

“Finished!” She lowered it, glancing at Adrien. “I’m going to go change. I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll miss you!” he called after her. She rolled her eyes and hurried to her bedroom, where she’d left the ribbons and mask. She wondered if Alya had tipped Adrien off about her costume having a mask or if they’d just thought of the same thing. She chalked it up to coincidence and changed quickly.

Adrien was lounging on the couch when Marinette came out, facing her door and twirling his tail with an insufferable smirk that dropped off his face when he saw her. A little nervous, she did a little twirl to show off the costume.

“What do you think?”

She’d altered the long skirt so that it poofed out a little more and painstakingly stitched on large black dots all over the skirt and bodice. The dress was strapless, hugging her bust and waist, and she had red tights to cover her legs. She’d decided to go barefoot and had borrowed a few red hair ribbons from Tikki. She’d French braided her hair, weaving the ribbons in, and had a red mask with a few black spots.

“Wow,” Adrien said softly. “I…. Wow.”

“Do you like it?”

He grinned and stood up, taking her hand and kissing it again.

“You look amazing, _my lady_.” His grin widened and Marinette realized he’d made a pun. She pulled her hand away and smacked his arm, scowling a little.

“You’ve barely been here five minutes and already you’re making ladybug puns,” she said grumpily. He laughed.

“But how can I not? My brain was knocked out of my head when I _spotted_ you.”

Marinette buried her face in her hands.

“Goddammit.”

 

The four of them curled up on the couch to watch dumb Halloween movies while they waited for trick-or-treaters. First on the list was _Young Frankenstein_ ,which turned out to be a ridiculous comedy. Alya and Nino had taken the left side of the couch, Alya’s head resting on Nino’s shoulder, leaving the right side for Marinette and Adrien. Marinette tried not to blush when he stretched his arm out, resting it on the back of the couch behind her shoulders. He kept leaning over and making dumb puns whenever something happened during the movie. Marinette was beginning to suspect that her eyes might fall out since she was rolling them so much.

The first trick-or-treaters arrived at about five thirty, shouting through the door for candy. Marinette, glad for the excuse to escape Adrien’s terrible puns, jumped up to go get the tray of pastries from the kitchen. Growing up in a bakery had improved her skills in the kitchen, and for Halloween, she’d made éclairs.

There were squeals of delight when she revealed the pastries. She smiled and handed them out, wishing them a happy Halloween before closing the door. When she turned around, however, Alya, Nino, and Adrien were sitting in a circle with a soda bottle in the center. Alya had a shit-eating grin on. Marinette realized what was happening.

“Oh, no,” she said, holding out her hand. “No, let me stop you right there. This is not happening.”

Adrien pouted a little.

“You don’t want to play?”

“Get me drunk first, then I’ll _consider_ playing. But I’m not playing a party game for twelve-year-olds while sober.”

Nino jumped up and ran into the kitchen.

“Great, now I have an excuse to bring these out!” he said, grinning wildly. Marinette sighed and sat down on the couch again. Adrien and Alya followed suit, waiting for Nino to return. Marinette pretended not to notice Adrien playing with the ends of her ribbons. Nino finally reappeared, walking in front of the final scenes of the movie and holding a box of what looked like chocolates. Marinette craned her neck, ignoring Adrien’s pout when the shift pulled her ribbons out of his fingers, and tried to see what was in the box.

“Rum-filled chocolates,” Nino said proudly. “Got them special.”

Marinette held up her finger.

“No.” She ticked off her reasons. “One, because it’s only five thirty, _way_ too early for alcohol. Two, because there are still children trick-or-treating and nobody is going to answer the door drunk. Three, because I want to be sober for at least most of the night.”  
Nino deflated.

“You’re no fun, Ladybug,” he grumbled. He set the box down on the coffee table. “We’ll eat them later.”

“New rule!” Alya announced. “We have to call each other by our costumes! Nino started it, blame him. In case you didn’t know, I’m the human version of the internet.”

“Lady Wifi,” Adrien said with a nod. Marinette rolled her eyes.

“I’m… Nino,” Nino said lamely. He grinned. “I don’t have a costume.”

“Boo!” the other three friends called out, throwing candy at him. He held up his hands to deflect the attack, laughing.

“Fine, fine! I’m Super DJ, in civilian disguise.”

“Hmm,” Adrien said, tapping his chin. “Passable, but it’s the best you’ve got. I’m a black cat, obviously. You may call me Chat Noir.”

“Alright, Chat,” Marinette said. “It’s your turn to pick a movie. So pick.”

“I’ll pick, alright,” he said, grinning at her as he got up. “And the movie I pick will be _purrfect_.”

 

As the night wore on, Adrien’s cat puns got worse and more children came by to get pastries from the nice ladybug that answered the door. The numbers began to decline by ten, and Marinette finally allowed Nino to begin passing out the rum chocolates. They were surprisingly good, she thought.

They were watching actual scary movies at that point, and had progressed to an old American horror movie called _A Nightmare on Elm Street_. Marinette thought the premise was a little ridiculous, but found herself gripping Adrien’s arm tightly and trying not to scream. He didn’t seem to mind, despite the crescent marks she was leaving in his skin.

“Dammit, Alya, turn it off!” she finally shrieked, releasing Adrien’s arm to cover her eyes. “I’ll play your dumb party game just turn it off!”

The TV was quickly switched off and Alya set a hand on Marinette’s shoulder. The gesture was comforting, but Marinette could hear the grin in her friend’s voice when she said, “Super DJ, get the bottle.”

“Wow, Spots,” Adrien said, leaning over towards her. “I didn’t realize you were such a scaredy-cat.”

Marinette turned red and got up, heading over to where Alya was setting up the game with Nino. Adrien followed close behind and took a seat next to Marinette. 

“The rules are simple,” Alya said, settling down in a cross-legged position. “Whoever the bottle lands on has to kiss the spinner. Oh, and to make everything more fun, everybody eats two rum chocolates before each spin.”

“Does it have to be a kiss on the lips?” Nino asked.

“No, not necessarily.”

“Let’s just get this over with,” Marinette said, reaching for the box of chocolate. “How many rounds?”

“Until we run out of chocolate.”

“Fair enough.” She popped two pieces of the chocolate in her mouth. “Who wants to go first?”

Adrien did, and the bottle pointed at Nino. All four of them started laughing before Nino finally leaned over and kissed Adrien on the cheek, causing the two of them to fall over in a fit of giggles. Alya managed to capture the whole thing on her phone. Marinette’s stomach hurt from laughing so hard. She managed to calm enough to eat two more chocolates, and then it was her turn to spin the bottle. She got Nino as well and leaned over to give him a little kiss on the forehead. He blushed, resulting in getting smacked by Alya.

The game went on for six rounds, with kisses between Marinette and Alya, Alya and Adrien, Alya and Nino (Marinette looked away for that one and it lasted way too long), and another one for Nino and Adrien. All four of them were at least semi-drunk by that point in the night, and Alya dragged Nino off to her room, shoving a sock on the knob before slamming the door shut. Marinette giggled at them and collapsed on the couch, her fuzzy mind making her even clumsier than usual. Adrien flopped down next to her.

“That was fun,” he said, grinning down at her. She nodded, adjusting her mask. It had gotten a little crooked. Her hair was falling out, too. She and Adrien shifted on the couch until she was lying with her head resting in his lap and her legs draped over the arm of the couch. He started playing with her hair ribbons again, tangling his fingers in her hair.

“Why a ladybug?” he finally asked, after they’d been sitting in silence for a little while. Marinette shrugged.

“They’re supposed to be good luck, right? I figured I could use some good luck. When I decided on what my costume was going to be, I had just auditioned for Agreste and thought that maybe it would give me a bit of good luck on how the audition turned out. Also I like ladybugs. How about you? Why a black cat?”

Adrien grinned, stretching out on the couch.

“Because I’m lazy. I had a lot of black shirts and pants and nothing to do with them, so I got a mask and some cat ears and a tail and bam, I became a cat.”

Marinette laughed, playing with her skirt.

“I like it,” she said, the words tumbling out before her alcohol-muddled brain could think to filter them. “It suits you. I like you.”

Adrien didn’t seem to notice the words until a minute later, and when he did, his fingers in her hair stilled, then were removed. Marinette made a slight noise of protest at the absence (having him running his fingers through her hair felt good, after all), but was quickly silenced by his next words.

“I like you too.”

She stared up at him, the words cutting clean through the alcohol-induced haze. Before the rational voice in her head could interrupt, she reached up, taking his face in her hands, and pressed her lips to his.

He tasted like rum chocolate and watermelon candy, which Marinette was surprised to discover was not a terrible combination. She pulled back after a second and sat up so that she could get to him better. His arms wrapped around her waist, his lips going to her neck. She tilted her head to give him better access, her mind going completely blank. She wasn’t sure if it was the alcohol or if it was her but she was beginning to think that she didn’t care.

She ended up in his lap and his lips found hers again. Her fingers slid into his hair, gripping the soft strands. Her knees were pressed into the couch on either side of him and her toes were curling into the fabric of the cushions. His hands moved on her back, tracing the lithe dancers’ muscles that she’d gained through a lifetime of dancing. A second later, he caught her lower lip between his teeth and Marinette gasped a little.

Adrien stood up, hauling both of them off the couch. Marinette’s legs wrapped around his waist and she gripped his head, not letting him go. She could feel the heat building between them as their kisses grew needier, hungrier. Marinette couldn’t even think straight, and then Adrien was walking, taking them to her bedroom and she didn’t want to think straight. All she wanted to care about was the boy that was kissing her like that.

He started kissing her neck again, kicking the door shut with his foot. Her shaking hands found the ties of his mask and soon it was gone, tossed aside. Before she could even gasp in surprise, he’d laid her down on her bed and was working at the zipper of her dress. Her hands found the hem of his t-shirt and he lifted his arms to let her pull it over his head. He quickly pulled the mask off of her face as well.

He paused for a second, his eyes raking over her face. Marinette found herself drowning in the depths of his eyes. She grabbed his face and pulled him down for another kiss, wanting to taste him again.

Work and personal lives be damned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forgive me fandom for I have sinned
> 
> This went from fluff to sin so quickly like damn 
> 
> Superrrrr nervous posting this I hope you guys like it. I was trying to give myself a little break and have some non-plot fluff so this is what I came up with. Next chapter shit _really_ goes down I'm not even kidding it's bad 
> 
> :) until then enjoy this


	6. Chapter 6

Two things stirred Marinette – one was the pounding headache that threatened to split her skull. 

The other was the sleeping man that was pressed against her back.

She became aware first of his arms, wrapped around her protectively. Then his face, buried in her hair. Then the substantial _warmth_ of him, and how comforting it was. Then the fact that neither of them were wearing any clothes.

And that it was Adrien Agreste.

She did her best to stifle the panic that was threatening to shove the contents of her stomach up her throat and wormed her way out of his embrace, miraculously avoiding waking him up. She had hazy, partial memories of the night before, most of it muddled and confused. She did remember kissing a certain green-eyed dancer, though….

She shoved those thoughts down and pulled the covers up over him, deciding to let him sleep. She found her costume, abandoned during the night’s activities, and hung it up in the closet. She grabbed Adrien’s shirt, the one he’d given her those weeks ago, and pulled it on along with a pair of clean underwear. She gathered up his clothes and set them on the end of the bed, figuring that if he was going to wake up as confused as she was, he might as well have clothes to change into.

Alya was sitting at the kitchen counter, her head in her hands. Nino was missing.

“Hey,” Marinette said softly. Alya only grunted in response. Marinette laughed a little.

“Do you have a hangover too?” she asked. The brunette nodded, wincing a little.

“Damn Nino and his rum chocolates,” Alya muttered. Marinette yawned, padding into the kitchen and turning on the stove.

“Where is Nino?”

“Still sleeping. Where’s Adrien?”

Marinette’s face turned red. She knew exactly where here partner was. And where he had been, if the soreness between her legs was anything to go by. Alya seemed to pick up on the clues and her eyes widened.

“Marinette!” she gasped, a sly smile spreading across her face. “What happened to keeping work and personal lives separate?”

“Shut up,” Marinette grumbled, shaking the frying pan she was holding at her best friend. “We were drunk. It was your idea to invite them over in the first place.”

Alya laughed anyway, but stopped quickly, groaning and holding her head. Marinette set the frying pan down and got her friend some painkillers and a glass of water. Alya gulped those down gratefully, but shot Marinette a look that told her the conversation was not over.

And judging by the look on Adrien’s face when he emerged from Marinette’s room to find her cooking bacon and eggs in his shirt, she was going to have to deal with more than one awkward conversation about what had gone down Halloween night.

 

Marinette managed to avoid the conversation between her and Adrien, although once he and Nino had left, Alya grilled her for details. Marinette kept telling her that she didn’t really remember all of what went down.

“At least tell me this,” Alya said. “Is he a good kisser?”

Marinette paused, thinking through the vague memories of their little tryst the night before. She did remember a lot of kisses, some in rather sinful places.

“Yes,” she finally said. Alya let out a little squeal of delight.

“I’m so proud of you!” she said, gripping Marinette’s arm. “You finally got with him!”

Marinette shook her friend off, laughing a little.

“We were drunk,” she said. “It didn’t mean anything.”

“I still declare it a victory,” Alya insisted. She calmed down again and took a seat at the counter. “When do you go back to work?”

Marinette glanced at the clock on the wall.

“Tikki said we didn’t have to come in until four today, but I was planning on going over around two. They’re going to need everyone they can get to fill in Chloe’s absence.”

“You guys didn’t have a replacement for her?”

Marinette shook her head.

“Nobody just quits in the middle of a show like this. Especially not this late in the season. We start performances at the end of the month. Even if we did have a backup, we’d have to scramble to get them trained and choreographed. It’s going to be tough. I doubt Mr. Agreste expected anybody to just up and quit, especially not Chloe. She was one of our main dancers.”

“Until you showed up,” Alya pointed out. Marinette sighed.

“Yeah, I know.”

Her phone buzzed at her and she grabbed it off the table, praying it wasn’t from Adrien. It wasn’t, thank God, but what it did say was even more worrying. It was a text from Tikki.

_I know I said you didn’t need to come in until four but this is important please come to the studio now._

Marinette frowned.

“I have to go,” she said. She grabbed her bag and yanked on a pair of shoes.

“Whoa, why?”

“Not sure, but Tikki just texted me. She said it was important and that I needed to come to the studio immediately. Whatever it is, it can’t be good. She never calls me in early.”

She gave Alya a quick hug before running out the door. The fall chill hit her when she left the building and she shivered, wrapping a scarf around her neck. She walked quickly to the studio, wondering what emergency had caused Tikki to need her at the studio so immediately.

She ran into Adrien outside the studio and blushed, staring at her feet. They stood there awkwardly for a second before Adrien cleared his throat and said, “Did Tikki call you in too?”

Marinette nodded. He held the door open for her and followed her in without another word. They met Tikki and the rest of the company in the largest studio. Tikki and Plagg were standing in front of everyone. Plagg’s mouth was set in a hard line and his eyes, normally glinting with mischief, were dark. Tikki was wringing her hands, Plagg’s arm around her shoulder in what looked like a gesture of comfort. Marinette’s brow furrowed. Whatever was going on, it had killed Plagg’s usual smirk. There was no way this was going to go well.

“It looks like everyone is here now,” Plagg said, nodding at Adrien and Marinette as they walked in. “First off, congratulations Marinette. You’ll be dancing the part of the Sugar Plum Fairy. Gabriel wants to meet with you later to discuss the modified choreography.”

Marinette let out a little squeak. She couldn’t decide if she should be happy or horrified. Thankfully, Plagg didn’t give her much time to think before he doled out his next punch.

“Unfortunately, due to Chloe’s departure, we’ve lost a lot of donations to the company from the mayor. This has been quite a blow to our finances, especially right before a show, so there have been pay cuts in all of your salaries.”

Marinette found herself drawing closer to Adrien, seeking a smidgen of comfort. He wrapped one arm around her shoulders protectively, pulling her against his side.

“I understand that this is a difficult time for everyone,” Plagg continued, squeezing Tikki a little. “Hopefully we can make it over this little speed bump in time for opening night. Don’t forget that we open in only three weeks. Soon this whole mess will be behind us.” He smiled a little, though exhaustion still showed through. “I do have to ask that you stay here so that we can run over the newly modified choreography that Tikki and I worked out. Mr. Agreste asks that all of you remain strong in this difficult time.”

Tikki sniffed, rubbing at her eyes. She had dark circles under her eyes, marring her paler-than-usual skin. Marinette felt a rush of anger towards Chloe. Even if not many people liked her, she’d left quite the mess behind. Tikki and Plagg were suffering because of it. That was not okay.

The meeting moved on to the new choreography. Chloe was only in a few scenes in the first act. A few dancers that weren’t in those scenes were called upon to fill in the empty spaces she left behind. It wasn’t much, though, so they managed pretty easily.

It was the second act that was an issue.

The storyline had to be shifted now that there wasn’t a Sugar Plum Fairy. Marinette was taking over the role in some ways. She was performing the solo that Chloe would have had, but there were other scenes that they both were in where she couldn’t replace Chloe, requiring a lot of modification in their choreography.

Tikki and Plagg did their best, but it was clear that they were struggling to fill in the gaps. Marinette wished she could do something to help.

“Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng?” a smooth voice asked from somewhere behind her. “May I speak with you?”

Marinette turned to see Gabriel Agreste standing in the doorway of the studio. A sudden bout of nerves glued her lips shut and it was all she could do to just nod and follow him out of the studio.

“You’re an excellent dancer,” Gabriel said. “I’m excited to see you perform.”

“Th– thank you,” Marinette stuttered, almost tripping.

“The way you have stepped up and handled this situation is admirable,” he continued, not breaking stride at all. Marinette wondered dimly where they were going. “Your perseverance is of a kind that I hope will spread to my other dancers.”

Marinette’s cheeks flushed with the praise.

“You and my son work well together,” he added, turning his head slightly to look at her. Marinette turned even redder and looked away.

“He’s an amazing dancer,” she said quietly, clasping her hands behind her back. “It’s been a pleasure and a privilege working with him.”

“He speaks very highly of you.”

Marinette didn’t think it was possible, but her face seemed to turn redder. She nodded, not trusting herself to speak. Gabriel stopped in front of an office door labeled with his name. He turned to Marinette.

“It has been a pleasure speaking with you, Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng. I apologize for the complications that the company is currently facing and hope that you will remain with us for a while longer. As for your choreography, I’ve given your mentors my notes. I look forward to speaking with you again, perhaps after opening night.”

He nodded politely at her and slipped into the office, leaving her standing in the corridor with burning cheeks. She turned and headed back to the studio where Tikki and Plagg were finishing up with the rest of the company. Everyone was tired and ready to go home. Tikki dismissed them with a thin smile. When everyone except Marinette and Adrien had left, she turned to Plagg and buried her face in his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, stroking her hair softly. Marinette felt like she was intruding on something private and gathered up her things.

The four of them eventually found themselves sitting in the break room. Tikki and Plagg were on the couch, Tikki’s head in Plagg’s lap. She fell asleep after only a minute or two and Plagg looked like he was close to joining her. Marinette was sitting at the table, playing with her fingers. Adrien was rummaging through the cabinets.

“Do you think Tikki will want a glass of water?” he asked. Plagg shook his head, yawning, and put a protective hand on Tikki’s back.

“Leave her be. I’ll take care of her when she wakes up.”

Adrien nodded and set a glass of water down in front of Marinette. She looked up at him, surprised. He offered her a kind smile.

“You look like you need it. How are you doing?”

She shrugged, taking the glass with a quiet, “Thanks.” She sipped at it, feeling like if she drank all of it, she would puke. She was beginning to feel like she’d puke anyways.

The weight of what Plagg had told them that morning was really beginning to hit her. _Pay cuts_.She wasn’t sure how much of their pay was going to be cut, but it wouldn’t take much for it to be a problem for her. She and Alya weren’t struggling for cash, per se, but Alya was still in college and rent wasn’t exactly cheap in Paris. Pay cuts would be an issue in some aspect or another.

She sat there for a while, Adrien sitting across from her silently. Plagg ended up falling asleep, his head tipping back and resting on the back of the couch. Marinette was glad that he and Tikki were getting some sleep. They both looked exhausted and overworked.

“I can’t believe Chloe did this,” Adrien said quietly. Marinette looked at him, startled.

“Why?”

He sighed, dragging one hand down his face.

“The two of us were close when we were kids. Since my dad and the mayor were friends, she was in a lot of shows when she was little. We hung out a lot. As we got older, we kind of grew apart, but we were still friends. She can be petty sometimes, and sometimes even a downright bitch, but this… she always seemed like she liked it here. I never thought she’d leave.”

Sympathy shot through Marinette for this boy that sat in front of her. Adrien seemed like a loner, and having one of his only friends suddenly up and leave must have been hard.

“I think…” Marinette traced the wood pattern of the table. “I think that she’s just hurt. If you guys are such good friends, maybe me coming in and hanging out with you so much feels like she’s losing you. Maybe she’s jealous, like you said.”

Adrien’s eyes widened.

“I said she was jealous of your dancing, not of our friendship.”

Marinette shrugged, squirming a little at his use of the word friendship. She was glad that they’d managed to avoid the topic of their little tryst, sure that she wouldn’t make it through that conversation, but it still stung a little to get friend zoned.

“I’m just suggesting what she might be feeling right now.”

Adrien sat back in his chair, stringing his hands through his hair.

“My mom used to say, ‘That Bourgeois girl is such a sweetheart.’” He laughed a little bitterly. “If only she could see Chloe now. I wonder what she’d say.”

Marinette’s heart twisted.

“What happened to your mom?” she asked softly. Adrien fixed his eyes on a spot somewhere above Marinette’s head.

“Good question,” he murmured.

Silence hung heavy between them, making Marinette feel like her chest was going to collapse. She got up and moved to sit next to Adrien, dragging a chair so that she could sit close enough to rest her head on his shoulder. His arm settled around her, playing with her hair ribbons.

“I’m sorry,” she said quietly. He laughed a little.

“It’s not your fault. None of it is.”

Marinette suddenly felt the need to apologize for the night before. She couldn’t handle the fact that she’d basically taken advantage of him.

“Look, about last night,” she said, pulling back from him. He frowned.

“What about last night?”

“I’m sorry.”

He just looked even more bewildered.

“Sorry for what?”

Marinette stared at him, eyes flicking to his lips while her brain kindly reminded her all the sinful things those lips had done. She gulped, returning her gaze to his eyes.

“You – you don’t remember?”

He offered an apologetic smile.

“Sorry, no. I don’t remember much past round five of Spin the Bottle.” He laughed a little awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. “I’m kind of a lightweight.”

_He doesn’t remember._

Marinette suddenly felt like she had a thousand-pound weight lifted off her chest. Things could go back to normal between them. She smiled and set her head back on his shoulder.

“It’s perfectly alright.”

 

Pay cuts, Marinette found, were nothing to be taken lightly. Especially when that pay cut was a fourth of her salary.

“Turns out the mayor donated a lot of money to his little girl’s dance company,” Plagg muttered bitterly. It was a week after the announcement about pay cuts and the four of them were back in the break room. Marinette had slept at the studio for five nights straight, working on her new choreography. She’d already talked to Alya about what had happened and the two of them had agreed to conserve as much energy and water as possible. Hopefully that would lessen the impact, but Marinette knew money was going to be tight for a little while.

Adrien’s mouth pressed into a thin white line. Marinette was worried about him. He’d grown more withdrawn and quiet since Chloe left, leading Marinette to question just how close the two of them had been. She also wondered what things were like for him at home. Did he still live with his father? Did he and Nino live together?

She realized that she’d never asked.

Tikki shifted on the couch, murmuring something inaudible in her sleep. As worried as Marinette was about Adrien, she was even more worried about her mentor. The stress was clearly getting to Tikki, and she spent most nights after rehearsals sleeping with her head in Plagg’s lap. Plagg looked down at his partner, the creases around his eyes deepening. He tucked his jacket more tightly around her.

“Everything’s gone to shit,” Adrien muttered, glaring at the floor. “Damn Chloe. She’s such a drama queen.”  
Marinette nodded, twisting her skirt in between her fingers.

“I think she might have overreacted,” she said quietly.

“To what?” Adrien demanded. “To you? Don’t tell me you’re saying this is your fault. I swear to God, Marinette, you better not be blaming yourself.”

Marinette shrank back in her chair a little. Sleep-deprived Adrien was scary. He noticed and softened immediately.

“I’m sorry. It’s just that…” He sighed, raking his hands through his hair. “None of this is your fault and you keep acting like it is and I hate that she made you feel like it’s your fault that everything fell apart.”

Marinette smiled at him.

“It’s okay. You’re under a lot of stress. We all are.”

Her phone buzzed at her. She glanced down at it and saw a text from Alya.

_I’m going over to Nino’s and Adrien’s tonight. U okay by yourself?_

So Adrien did live with Nino. Marinette typed back a quick reply.

_Yeah, I’ll be good. I’ll let Adrien know you’re going to be over._

“Alya’s over at your and Nino’s apartment,” she said, setting the phone down at looking up at Adrien. He laughed.

“Good to know. Thanks for the heads-up.” He stretched out his arms behind his head. “I might just sleep here tonight.”

“Yeah, me too,” Marinette sighed. “The apartment feels pretty empty without Alya, plus it will save energy.”

“Save energy?”

“So that we can afford the electricity bill.”

Adrien’s expression darkened a little.

“You guys can’t afford the electricity bill?”

Marinette shrugged.

“We can afford it, but we’re trying to be careful. Just in case something comes up. Besides, Alya’s still in college and working nights doesn’t pay much for her.”

Adrien nodded.

“How about we go get some coffee?” he offered. “You know, since it looks like we’re both going to be here for a little while.”

Marinette smiled.

“That would be great.”

As they left the studio, Adrien offered her his jacket. She wrapped it around herself gratefully. The mild Paris weather was starting to really get colder and colder. Adrien stuck his hands in his pockets, looking perfectly comfortable despite the chill.

“So, Alya and Nino seem to be spending more and more time together,” Marinette said. “Does that bother you?”

He shrugged.

“Nino seems pretty happy. I guess I can’t be upset. Besides, more excuses to hang out with you, Spots.”

He bumped her shoulder, giving her an insufferable smirk. Marinette rolled her eyes.

“Jeez, I borrow Tikki’s sweater _one time_ and suddenly I’m Spots forever.”

“Yeah, that and the fact that you went as a ladybug for Halloween.”

Marinette laughed a little.

“So what about you?” he asked. “Does it bother you that Alya’s hanging out with Nino so much?”

“Not really. He’s pretty cool, once you get past all the annoying. Not unlike some other guys that I know.”

Adrien put a hand on his chest, still grinning.

“You wound me, Spots!”

They’d reached the café by then and they got in line, still joking around. Marinette had to admit, it was nice being outside the studio. She’d been practically living there for almost a week. She could tell Adrien felt the same way. She glanced up at him and the easy smile he had on. She liked seeing him smile.

Once they’d gotten their coffee, they headed back towards the studio. Marinette could see the sun setting between the buildings and smiled.

“It’s a nice night,” she commented. Adrien nodded. He slung his arm around Marinette’s shoulders, pulling her a little closer as they walked. She tried not to blush too much, reminding herself over and over that this was her partner, she had to focus, _dammit Marinette be professional –_

“What the hell are you doing here?”

Marinette’s head snapped up at Adrien’s angry question. The man in the purple suit was standing outside the entrance to Agreste, speaking with Sabrina. Sabrina scampered when she saw Adrien and Marinette approaching, but the man stayed put, smiling a little at the two dancers. Adrien removed his arm from Marinette’s shoulders.

“I was simply speaking with that young lady about the possibility of coming to Le Papillion,” the man said. “Is that a crime?” The man fixed his eyes on Marinette. “Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng, as I recall, you are also an excellent dancer. From what I understand, Agreste has had some financial trouble and some of the dancers are not quite getting paid what they were promised.” He held out his business card to her. “Le Papillion will have what you need, if you’re interested.”

Adrien stepped between the man and Marinette, his hands clenching into fists.

“You stay the hell away from her,” he growled.

“Adrien–”

“As far as I know, Monsieur Agreste, it is not a crime to make a job offer to a dancer in a failing company. Besides, Le Papillion is always open to new dancers.”

Adrien was shaking a little. Marinette set her hand on his shoulder.

“Adrien,” she said quietly. “Walk away. He’s not worth it.”

Adrien calmed at her touch, shooting the man another glare. He had just turned away when the man in the purple suit spoke one last time.

“Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng, my offer still stands if you want to get away from this failing company. It’s best to jump ship before it goes under.”

Adrien whipped around and punched the man in the face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *evil laughter*
> 
> If anybody can tell me what parallel between the show and this fic I was trying to make they get a cookie


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a week but I finally finished this chapter!
> 
> Also somebody asked how old they are in this. I'm imagining them to be about 20 or 21.

“I’m here for Adrien Agreste,” Marinette said, peering up at the officer at the desk. The man sighed, shuffling a few papers.

“Are you bailing him out?” he asked in a bored tone. Marinette crossed her arms over her chest, giving the man the stink eye. The officer sighed again, and pulled out a couple papers.

“I’m going to need you to fill these out,” he said. “You’ll pay over there,” he pointed at another desk, “and then we’ll bring him out for you.”

Marinette thanked him and grabbed a pen from the cup on his desk. She scribbled the information that the form required hastily and hurried over to the desk where she had to pay the bail. She cringed when she saw the amount, but wrote down her information anyways.

They brought Adrien out after a couple minutes. He averted his eyes when he saw Marinette standing there, scratching the back of his head uncomfortably. She stared at him for a minute before sighing and saying, “Come on, let’s get back to the studio. Tikki and Plagg are worried. Your hearing is the day after tomorrow.”

He followed her silently out of the police station. She was still wearing his jacket and she handed it back to him once they were outside.

“Tikki’s going to rip your head off,” she told him, smiling a little. He didn’t meet her eyes, shoving his hands in his pockets. His shoulders were slumped and his spine curved. He looked like a scolded child.

“Adrien,” Marinette said softly, stopping. She grabbed his hand and pulled him to a stop as well. “I’m not mad at you. And you know Tikki. She can’t stay angry for more than five seconds.”

He looked down at her with big, remorseful eyes.

“Besides,” she said, smiling a little. “Plagg won’t let you go to jail for something as stupid as punching a guy who had it coming in the face. Especially when we’re two weeks out from opening night.”

“You didn’t have to bail me out,” he said quietly. She shrugged, letting go of his hand and continuing on to the studio.

“I know. But I wasn’t about to let my partner rot in a cell when there’s dancing to be done.”

 

Plagg and Tikki were asleep when they got back to the studio, Tikki’s head on his shoulder and his head resting on top of hers. Marinette giggled at the sight and shut the door to the break room. She turned to Adrien, who still looked like a kicked puppy, and said, “Come on, let’s go rehearse.”

It was late, and they were both a little tired, but they changed anyways, meeting in their usual studio. Marinette set up the stereo while Adrien stretched.

“What do you want to work on?” he asked. She shrugged.

“Anything will do. Pas de Deux has a couple spots that could be cleaned up, but otherwise I’m game for anything. We could work on the mask dance from the first act.”

“Let’s iron out Pas de Deux.”

Marinette nodded, sticking the correct CD in the stereo. She stretched quickly, watching Adrien out of the corner of her eye. She could tell he felt a little guilty for getting himself in trouble. She wished she could let him know that it was fine, that she wasn’t angry, but she got the feeling that he wouldn’t believe her even if she tried. He was the kind of person that would blame himself despite everything.

She tried not to let the stress of the day and everything that had happened get to her. She was dancing, after all. Nothing else should matter. But she could feel the weight of everything that had happened and it made her feet drag a little.

They had run through Pas de Deux three times and Adrien was still holding her when he said, “Are we going to talk?”  
Marinette stared at him. He slowly lowered her to the ground, but kept a tight hold on her.

“What is there to talk about?” she asked softly, dropping her gaze to his chest.

“You’re scrimping and saving just to pay the energy bill and you bailed me out so that I wouldn’t be in lockup until my hearing. Why would you do that?”  
Marinette tried to pull away from him, but he held her in place.

“Marinette,” he said gently. “You didn’t have to bail me out.”

“I know,” she said.

“So why did you?”

_Because I think I’m in love with you._

She couldn’t get up the courage to say that, though, so she responded with, “I knew we needed you here. You couldn’t miss two days of rehearsal.”

His arms slid away and for a brief moment she missed them.

“Right.” He coughed and Marinette glanced up at him to see him scratching the back of his head the way he did when he was nervous. “Um, we should go over the mask dance a few times.”

She let her gaze drop back to the floor and nodded.

“I’ll get the CD.”

They worked until well past midnight, Marinette refusing to take a break. They went through Pas de Deux, the mask dance, and Marinette’s solo with Adrien spotting multiple times. They finally stopped when she nearly collapsed with exhaustion during one of their run-throughs.

“Come on, you need to sleep,” Adrien said, tugging her out of the studio. She was too tired to protest, but she couldn’t walk any further. She stopped, pulling him with her, and sat down abruptly on the floor next to the wall.

“I’ll just sleep here,” she murmured, eyelids fluttering a little. She heard Adrien sigh, and then he was sitting too, moving her so that her head was resting in his lap.

“You’re going to kill yourself if you work this hard,” she heard him mutter. Her limbs felt like twenty-pound weights, so she just shut her eyes and let herself drift off.

 

“Let them sleep. Look at them, they’re exhausted.”

“I haven’t lectured Adrien yet.”

“Oh, come on, Plagg, do you really think he needs to be lectured at this point? He knows what he did, he knows he screwed up.”

A sigh.

“I suppose you’re right. Still, we should wake them up. Get them somewhere more comfortable at least. It looks like they’ve been out here all night.”

Marinette blinked slowly, the voices above her continuing their conversation. She became aware of a familiar scent, one that she’d grown used to.

_Adrien._

She barely remembered falling asleep in his lap the night before, right after working herself to the point of not being able to walk.

“Wait, I think Marinette’s waking up.”

Tikki’s sweet face came into view. Marinette looked up a little. Plagg was standing next to Tikki, arms folded across his chest and his usual smirk back on his face.

“You two could not be more married,” he snorted. He turned away and headed down the hallway, saying to Tikki, “I’ll be in the break room eating cheese if you need me!”

Tikki rolled her eyes.

“Hey,” Marinette croaked. Her throat was dry and her limbs were still heavy. “What time is it?”

“Nine thirty. Plagg and I found the two of you out here. Have you been here all night?”

Adrien shifted, his arm tightening around Marinette. 

“Yeah, we worked pretty late last night. At least, I did. I pushed us too far and I got really tired and was dead on my feet so Adrien sat us down and I fell asleep.”

Tikki shook her head, smiling a little.

“Honey, you’re going to work yourself to death.”

“Yeah, Adrien said so too.”

Tikki laughed a little, brushing Marinette’s hair off of her face.

“Plagg’s right,” Tikki said quietly, chuckling. Marinette was still too tired to move, so she let her eyes slide shut again. She heard Tikki sigh again and say, “Adrien, wake up.”

Adrien stirred, his arm tightening a little more around Marinette before it loosened and he sat up a little.

“Tikki?” _Damn_ his sleepy voice was attractive. “What’s going on?”

“You and your partner need to get up. Rehearsal starts in half an hour. Marinette looks pretty exhausted, though, so we could probably let her skip the first hour or so.”

Adrien shook Marinette gently, a smile audible in his voice.

“Marinette, wakey wakey.”

Marinette grumbled to herself, curling up a little more. Adrien laughed.

“I think she’s going to need that hour. I’ll get her to the break room, don’t worry about it.”

“Thanks, Adrien. I’ll meet you in the studio.”

Light footsteps faded and Adrien poked Marinette. 

“Come on, Princess, wake up.”

“But I’m tired,” she whined. He laughed again.

“How about you wake up just enough to get off my lap so that I can stand up? I’ll give you a piggyback ride to the break room.”

“Well, since you promised a piggyback ride,” Marinette muttered sarcastically, but she moved off of his lap. He got up, stretching out.

“Come on, Princess. Just get up enough to get on my back.”

Marinette sighed and pushed herself into a sitting position. Adrien offered his hand and she pulled herself up. She tried to let go, but he yanked on her arm, spinning around and dipping so that she landed on his back. He let go of her hand and grabbed the undersides of her knees, hoisting her up. She barely had time to let out a gasp of surprise.

“There,” Adrien said, and Marinette could hear the insufferable smirk in his voice. “Was that so bad?”

“You’re insufferable,” she muttered, even as she pressed her cheek into his back and wrapped her arms around his neck. He laughed and she felt it vibrate through his body.

“That’s what makes me loveable. Now you need some sleep and a decent meal. I’ll call Alya and see if she can bring anything for you.”

“Thank you,” she murmured.

“It’s the least I can do for the girl that bailed me out.”

He headed for the break room, adjusting her slightly on his back so that she would be more comfortable. Even as they continued on, Marinette felt herself waking up a little. She was annoyed, since she knew she needed sleep, but at the same time glad. She had a lot of work to get done.

Plagg was sitting at the table in the break room, his feet up and eating cheese as usual, when the two of them walked in. He snorted when he saw Marinette on Adrien’s back.

“Married,” he muttered, smirking. Marinette stuck her tongue out at him as they passed by. Adrien set her down carefully on the couch and grabbed the blankets off the floor. He tucked them around Marinette, saying, “You know where to find us when you wake up. Just get some sleep, okay? I’ll call Alya and see if she can run over here with something for you.”

“Thanks,” Marinette yawned. She curled up on the couch, burying her face in the pillow. She heard his footsteps fade and the door clicked shut. She let herself drift off quietly, toes curling into the blanket.

When she woke up, she found that she’d only slept for about forty-five minutes. There was a still-steaming cup of soup sitting on the table with a bag of crackers and a note. She yawned, standing up and stretching out. The note was from Alya.

_Hey. Adrien called and said you pushed yourself too hard and that you were tired and would need something to eat so I brought you some soup. Don’t do that again, dummy! You’re going to hurt yourself! Anyways, call me when you wake up, we’ll talk more then. – Alya_

Marinette grabbed her phone, dialing Alya while sitting down to eat the soup. Alya picked up on the second ring.

“Girl, you looked terrible! How could you do that to yourself? Have you not read my blog? I have a whole section dedicated to health!”

Marinette waited until Alya had finished ranting before she said anything.

“I’m sorry, Alya, I was just stressed and I needed to work through a lot of that.”

Alya sighed.

“Okay, well, I’m glad that you’re all right.” Marinette’s friend suddenly sounded much slyer. “So, I heard from Tikki that she found you and Adrien sleeping together in the hallway.”

Marinette choked a little on the spoonful of soup she’d been eating, glaring at her phone.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she demanded. Alya laughed.

“It’s supposed to mean that that’s adorable! You guys fell asleep with each other and he’s all worried about you! It’s cute!”

“When did you talk to Tikki?”

“When I was at the studio. I think you’re dodging the topic at hand. You and Adrien.”

Marinette tried to play it off.

“What about us? We’re partners.”

“Uh-huh. Sure. Crap, I gotta go, I have class in a few minutes. Come home tonight, okay? You need to sleep in a real bed instead of your ‘partner’s’ lap.”

Marinette tried to protest, but Alya had already hung up. She sighed, rolling her eyes and setting down the phone. She finished off her soup and changed into a clean leotard and skirt, then headed for the studio. Most of the company was working through the ballroom dance in the first act. Adrien was leaning against the wall just inside the door, fresh button-up shirt rolled up to his elbows. He smirked at her when she walked in.

“You’re looking fresh as a daisy, my lady,” he said. Marinette rolled her eyes at him, ignoring the skip her heart did at his fully visible muscles under his shirt. “Did you sleep well?”

“Yeah, and Alya brought me some soup. How’s rehearsal going so far?”

“Nobody’s cried yet.”

Marinette couldn’t help the laugh that burst out from her. Tikki looked up from the corner where she was watching the dancers with furrowed brows and smiled. Marinette clapped one hand over her mouth, immediately internally chastising herself. Adrien chuckled and Tikki just smiled at her and went back to studying the dancers.

“That’s not funny,” Marinette said, lowering her hand and giving Adrien a little glare. He shrugged, grinning.

“You seemed to think it was funny a second ago.”

Marinette stuck her tongue out at him, turning back to watch the rehearsal.

“Alya wants me to go home tonight,” she said casually. She ignored how his fingers twitched against his arm. “She says I need to sleep in a real bed.”

“She’s right,” Adrien said after a second. “We’re only two weeks out from opening night. You’re going to work yourself to death if you don’t go home.”

“You got yourself arrested,” Marinette countered. Adrien let out a low growl.

“He deserved it,” he muttered, glaring at the floor.

“Don’t say that to the judge tomorrow,” Marinette said seriously, reaching out to touch his arm. “Please?”

He glanced up at her, his smile returning.

“Of course not, my lady.” He winked. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

 

The hearing took place in the middle of the day, when Adrien was technically supposed to be at rehearsal. Marinette, Plagg, Tikki, and Gabriel Agreste were all there as well as Pierre Sauvageot, the man in the purple suit, sporting a fantastic bruise.

Marinette noticed Adrien smirk a little when he saw the man’s face, the tape across his nose and the large purple bruise that spread from that point. Sauvageot ignored Adrien and the rest of the Agreste dancers, except for Marinette. He smiled politely at her and asked if she was doing all right.

She tried her best to smile and be polite back.

They’d already been told that Sauvageot wasn’t pressing many charges. Gabriel informed Adrien’s lawyer that they were just going to accept the fine that they would inevitably be stuck with. Fighting it could ultimately end up making things worse.

Marinette had borrowed Tikki’s spotted sweater again and was nervously twisting the hem in her lap. Tikki and Plagg had seated themselves on either side of her and Tikki reached over to take her hand.

“It’s going to be fine,” she said quietly to Marinette. “There’s nothing to worry about.”

Marinette nodded, but she still had a bad feeling.

The hearing started off well enough, with Sauvageot’s lawyer running through the charges and what they were demanding Agreste to pay.

“We don’t want to waste anyone’s time,” Adrien’s lawyer said, standing up. “We accept the charges and will pay what is required.”

The magistrate seemed satisfied with this.

“If that’s all,” he started, taking off his glasses and cleaning them on his shirt.

“Wait,” Sauvageot’s lawyer said, standing quickly. “There is one other thing. Monsieur Sauvageot would like to petition for a restraining order.”

Marinette’s stomach dropped into her boots. She saw the shock flash across Adrien’s face as well. The only person that didn’t react, in fact, was Gabriel Agreste. The choreographer was sitting ramrod straight, his face completely expressionless. The magistrate sighed.

“If you must.” The tired-looking man replaced his glasses and waved his hand. “Continue.”

Marinette found herself shaking throughout the entire proceedings, squeezing Tikki’s hand tightly. Plagg set one hand over hers in a comforting gesture. Adrien looked ready to hit somebody again, but his shoulders slumped near the end and he seemed to accept the ruling. Marinette wanted to scream, to shout that it was unfair, but the words caught in her throat and she just sat in silence.

When all was said and done, Gabriel stood silently and left. Plagg went up to talk to Adrien while the lawyer left. Tikki stood as well, setting one hand on Marinette’s shoulder before hurrying out after Gabriel. Marinette stood, wanting to go home and maybe take a shower, then thought better of it. They were already pushing it with the bills that month. Maybe she’d shower at the studio.

“Mademoiselle,” Sauvageot said, smiling down at her. She realized that she’d run right into him. “If you ever need to work somewhere with fewer… unsavory people.” Marinette glanced over at Adrien, who had his head in his hands. “Le Papillion always has room for a talented dancer such as yourself.” He held out a card. “Besides, our salaries can easily match and beat those at Agreste.” He tilted his head, studying her. His smile felt almost predatory. “Just consider it.”

Marinette looked down at the small white card, then took it from his hands. Sauvageot’s smile widened.

“Consider it, Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng. I look forward to hearing from you again.”

He left her standing in the courtroom, card clutched in shaking fingers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay to everybody who left sweet comments on this story, you guys are the best! 
> 
> I'm having so much fun with this story and yes, the restraining order is going to be important plot-wise. 
> 
> Anyways, sin coming soon.


	8. Chapter 8

Opening night was drawing closer and closer. Marinette barely remembered to finish making her costume in time for dress rehearsals and often found herself rushing home after work to sew until her fingers were numb. Upon Alya’s insistence, she didn’t sleep at the studio nearly as much as she had, though she often showered there.

The stress was getting to everyone. Tikki and Plagg both looked exhausted when Marinette saw them, though she could tell they were trying not to let it show. Adrien rarely smiled anymore, and it had been days since Marinette had last heard him make a single pun.

Three days before opening night, Marinette fell asleep on the couch and woke up in Adrien’s lap.

He was asleep, his arm wrapped around her. A blanket had been pulled around her and she was using his arm as a pillow. She wondered dimly how he’d gotten her into his lap before the door to the break room slammed open and Tikki came storming in, her face red with anger. Marinette pretended to still be asleep when she saw Plagg following behind.

“What do you want me to do, Tikki?” Plagg demanded, throwing up his hands. He lowered his voice when he spotted Adrien and Marinette sleeping on the couch.

“Something!” Tikki hissed. “Something more than what you are doing! The budget is so low right now that Monsieur Agreste is going to start cutting dancers as well as salaries! You know we’re extra weight right now!”

Marinette’s toes curled, and she tried to stay calm. Gabriel would never fire Tikki and Plagg. Would he?

“Tikki, that’s not going to happen–”

“You don’t know that!” Tikki’s voice cracked. “You don’t know if today or tomorrow will be our last days! What if he does fire us? What happens then? Are we just going to magically find something better to do? What, will we work at Le Papillon?”

“We’ll figure something out–”

“We wouldn’t be working together anymore, Plagg. We’d be by ourselves.”

“So what are you trying to say?”

“I’m trying to say that you should be _doing_ something! Gabriel doesn’t think like we do, he doesn’t see dancers as people anymore. He’s been doing this too long for that. He sees numbers on a page and says, ‘Hmm, those two haven’t done much lately.’ If you just went and talked to him, maybe he’d–”

“He’d what?” Plagg’s voice had acquired a hard edge. “He’d reconsider firing anybody? What exactly do you think I could possibly say that would affect anything? Do you really think he’s going to just keep all the dancers and find another way to fix the budget?”

“I don’t know!” Tikki sounded on the verge of tears. Marinette cracked open one eye to see Plagg staring at her, eyes wide. Tikki was glaring up at him, hands curled into little fists at her side. Angry tears sparkled in her eyes.

“Tikki,” Plagg said quietly, his voice infinitely softer. He stepped forward, closing the distance between the two of them, took her face in his hands, and pressed his lips to hers.

Marinette shut her eyes again, fighting a smile. She’d been waiting for the two of them to finally kiss for a long time. She and Adrien may have been “practically married” but Tikki and Plagg were so married that Marinette had thought that they were actually a couple until Adrien had told her otherwise.

“Don’t cry,” Plagg said softly. “We’ll figure something out, I promise. Besides, you hate crying.”

“I know that, you dumb asshole,” Tikki said, but her voice held no bite. Marinette cracked one eye just enough to see Plagg with his arms wrapped around Tikki and his face buried in her hair. She closed her eyes and snuggled further into Adrien, enjoying the warmth he provided.

“You’re going to wake up the kids,” Plagg stage-whispered. “It looks like they fell asleep together again. Should I Dad them?”

“Plagg, we’re not their parents.”

“We might as well be. Have you ever met their parents?”

“We work for Adrien’s dad.”

“Nuance.”

Tikki laughed.

“Come on, Plagg. Leave them be, they don’t have to be awake for another fifteen minutes.”

Marinette heard light footsteps fade and the door to the break room clicked shut gently. She tried to fall back asleep but found that she couldn’t and grumpily opened her eyes. Adrien was still sleeping, as evidenced by the slow, steady rise and fall of his chest. She tried to figure out if there was a way to get up without waking him. She carefully turned in his lap, glancing up at his face to check if he was stirring. She managed to move his arm without disturbing him and sat up slowly.

He didn’t wake, so she bunched up the blanket and set it in his lap. She got up and walked over to where she’d left her shoes, running her fingers through her hair and yawning. She wondered if she’d have time to run home and get anything before rehearsal started.

She was spared the decision when Alya called.

“Marinette,” her friend groaned when she picked up. “You need to come home. I don’t know where your ass has been but I’m so hungover I literally cannot stand up.”

Marinette laughed quietly, already picking up her bag and slipping out of the break room.

“Alya,” she chided gently. Alya muttered a couple curse words at her.

“Nino was over last night once Adrien called and said you weren’t going to be home and he brought those damn rum chocolates again and now I feel like my head is being broken open.”

“I’ll be over in a few minutes, okay? Just don’t do anything stupid until I get there.”

She hung up and peered into the main rehearsal studio, looking for Tikki and Plagg to tell them where she was headed. She was met with the sight of Tikki pinned against the wall, Plagg’s mouth on hers. Marinette coughed awkwardly, grinning a little. Plagg pulled away from Tikki, a slightly mischievous look in his eyes. Tikki’s eyes were wide and she was breathing a little harder than normal, her cheeks flushed.

“Good morning, Marinette,” Plagg said. Marinette rolled her eyes.

“Get a more private room, you two. Goddamn. Alya’s having a rough morning, I’m going to run over there for a few minutes.”

“Thanks for letting us know,” Tikki said, adjusting her skirt. Marinette winked at her.

“If you ever need me to kick Plagg’s ass, you know Adrien and I will,” she said, hurrying away before Tikki could say anything further.

The Parisian morning was crisp, with a cold wind biting at any exposed skin. Marinette shivered, pulling her arms around herself. She knew that things wouldn’t be much better at the apartment since they were going easy on the heat to lower the bills.

She found Alya sitting at the counter, wearing a large t-shirt that barely reached a third of the way down her thighs. She had her head resting on top of her arms.

“I see you managed to get yourself out of bed,” Marinette said, setting her things down. Alya only grunted in response. “Where’s Nino?”

“Getting dressed. I can’t feel my legs.”

“You two had that much fun, huh?”

“Piss off,” Alya muttered, sticking her tongue out at Marinette. Marinette laughed, filling a glass with water and grabbing some painkillers from the drawer.

“At least you had fun,” she said. She set the glass and the painkillers down in front of her friend. “I’m going to grab some stuff and then I need to go, okay?” She gave Alya a little hug. “And stop eating the rum chocolates! Bad things happen when you eat the rum chocolates!”

“What, like you sleeping with Adrien and him not remembering a second of it?”

“Wait, what?”

Marinette whipped around and saw Nino standing in the doorway to the kitchen, his eyes wide and his jaw on the floor. Marinette turned a bright red.

“Nino,” she said awkwardly. “Huh, I, uh, I didn’t see you standing there.”

“You slept with Adrien?”

“Halloween night,” Alya said, downing the painkillers and the water. “You should’ve seen her face.”

“He didn’t say anything about that,” Nino pouted. “And I’m his best friend!”

“That’s because it doesn’t matter,” Marinette insisted, her face progressing to a deeper shade of red. “It didn’t mean anything. We were drunk.”

Nino gave her a look.

“Honey,” Alya said. “You two need to stop dancing around your damn feelings and just admit that you’re madly in love with each other.”

“We’re not – that’s not – we’re partners!” Marinette cried, getting more and more flustered as the conversation progressed.

“He’s protective of you, he always calls me when you sleep at the studio, and he punched a guy in the face for you,” Alya pointed out, ticking each fact off on her fingers. “It’s pretty obvious.”

“No,” Marinette said. “He’s just being protective because Chloe left. He probably just doesn’t want another dancer to leave, that’s all. It’s nothing.”

“I’ve seen the way he looks at you and that’s not nothing,” Nino interjected. Marinette glared at him, then threw up her hands.

“I have to go to work!” she cried, storming off towards her bedroom. She grabbed what she needed, changed, redid her hair, and washed her face before heading back out to the kitchen. Alya and Nino were sitting together at the counter, speaking in low voices. Nino had a sweet smile on and his dark brown eyes held a soft light that Marinette guessed he reserved for Alya. 

“I’m heading out,” Marinette announced, picking up her bag and shoving her things in it. “I’ll see you guys later.”

“You love Adrien!” Alya called as Marinette headed out. Marinette rolled her eyes and started making her way back to the studio. She’d gotten a warmer sweater from the apartment to combat the November chill that had managed to worm its way into her bones. It was a deep red color, one that had Adrien saying that she was taking after Tikki more and more.

_Wonder what he’d say about what happened between Tikki and Plagg this morning._

Marinette’s cheeks reddened a little at the memory of walking in on her two mentors. She immediately chided herself, thinking, _what are you, twelve?_ The two of them were adults, and so was she. She could handle a little kissing.

She couldn’t meet Adrien’s eyes when she ran into him on the way to rehearsal, her conversation with Alya and Nino on repeat in her head. She still smiled and said good morning, of course, but she was quick to hurry past him to rehearsal.

The entire day was intense, with a good long rehearsal and then conditioning and then another dress rehearsal. Nino showed up later in the day to run sound for the performance. Marinette would have said hello, except that she was busy backstage prepping for the run-through. He did wave at her from the sound booth, though.

Marinette and Adrien ended up talking a lot backstage. She told him about catching Tikki and Plagg making out in the studio, which he didn’t hesitate to start teasing both of them about. Adrien complimented Marinette’s Clara costume, which she’d finally finished. She was pretty happy with it as well. The skirt was long and made from pink and gold tulle. She’d added gold embroidery up the sides of the pink strapless bodice as well as a pair of golden fingerless elbow-length gloves. Gabriel had approved the design, of course, but told her that it was an original take on a classic character. The most enthusiasm he showed was an approving nod.

Adrien loved it.

He was constantly flicking the gold ribbons that hung from Marinette’s bun and occasionally tugging on them just to annoy her. He would also tug on her skirt or offer to tie her pointe shoes when she had trouble with them. In her defense, it was difficult to tie a good bow with a bunch of tulle in the way. Adrien seemed to find the whole thing amusing.

Alya questioned Marinette endlessly when she got home that night, but Marinette was honestly too tired to even deny anything. She collapsed fully-clothed on her bed and fell right asleep.

The next two days passed similarly, and then it was the day of opening night.

Tikki and Plagg were backstage, directing the mess of dancers as everyone scrambled to prepare. Some of the snowflakes had to go out into the lobby to pass out stickers to the kids and give information to adults. They were put on priority for hair and makeup. Marinette escaped the chaos and confusion by slipping outside, hoping for a bit of fresh air. It was a clear evening, a few stars visible past the lights of Paris.

She’d been standing out there for a few minutes, watching as life continued around her, when someone joined her.

“Tikki’s looking for you,” Adrien said, leaning against the wall next to her with folded arms. “I thought you might be out here. She needs you to get your costume for the first act on and sit down for hair and makeup.”

“It’s a beautiful night,” Marinette said quietly. She was staring at a small cluster of stars that was visible somewhere by the Eiffel Tower. The two of them stood silently for a minute before Marinette realized that Tikki was probably freaking out, looking for her.

“We should head back inside,” she sighed. Adrien laughed.

“Don’t sound so excited, my lady,” he joked, holding the door for her. “Some might think you love your job too much.”

Marinette did love her job, and the excitement before a show was one of her favorite parts. The adrenaline, the bobby pins and makeup, the colorful costumes and bright chatter. It was all exhilarating and calming at the same time. Tikki met her in the dressing room, her eyebrows raised.

“How am I supposed to turn you into the perfect Clara if you’re nowhere to be found?” the redhead demanded, gesturing for Marinette to sit down. Marinette laughed.

“I was just getting some fresh air. I was only gone for a few minutes anyways.”

“Uh-huh. Well now I have less time to create artwork on your face and hair.”

“You’ll do fine,” Marinette said. She grinned, settling herself so that she was comfortable. “All right, Tikki, I’m ready. Transform me into Clara.”

 

Alya texted Marinette, telling her that she was interviewing the conductor of the orchestra, but that she would be in the second row for the performance. Marinette had changed into her costume and was pacing around in the dressing room, muttering to herself while Adrien watched with a slightly amused expression.

“Did I already….? Yes, I did that. But what about…? No, no, I don’t need to worry about that.” She paused, thought for a second, and then resumed pacing. Adrien finally stood up, stilling Marinette with a hand on either shoulder.

“Marinette,” he laughed. “Stop stressing out. Everything’s going to be fine.”

“I’m just going over everything in my head,” she said. “Making sure I didn’t miss anything.”

“You didn’t. I know because Tikki has a checklist. Everything is ready to go. You can relax.”

Marinette sighed, some of the tension leaving her shoulders.

“I guess you’re right.”

“I always am.”

Marinette rolled her eyes.

“Come on, the show is starting soon. We need to get ready.”

Adrien took Marinette’s hand and lifted it to his mouth, pressing his lips to her knuckles.

“I’ll see you onstage, my lady.”

 

Marinette tried to hide her shaking hands in her skirt without making it obvious what she was doing. She’d done the Pas de Deux a thousand times, she shouldn’t be nervous, and yet here she was, trying to hold a smile as the first notes of the music played.

She looked up and met Adrien’s eyes. He gave her a small, comforting smile that calmed her trembling nerves. She didn’t have to be afraid. They’d practiced until they actually fell asleep from exhaustion. They knew the dance like they knew each other.

Marinette’s limbs felt fluid, almost like they flowed with the music and weren’t under her own control. Adrien’s hands, while steady, were exceeding gentle and every touch felt intimate. After the first lift, Marinette’s smile no longer felt forced.

They finished, holding their final pose while the audience applauded. Marinette’s gaze had locked onto Adrien’s, big green eyes taking up her mind.

She barely realized that she had to keep going until he lowered her to the ground and they continued on with the end of the ballet.

The audience applauded the loudest for her and Adrien, a few whoops and cheers echoing from the seats. Marinette blushed, taking Adrien’s hand for the curtain call. He gave her a mischievous grin and kissed her hand again before lowering it and returning his attention to the curtain call. Marinette was fairly certain that she was redder than Tikki’s hair, but she finished out the curtain call with as much professionality as she could muster.

Professional Marinette and regular Marinette were beginning to blur together.

The curtain fell and the performance was over. Marinette let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding, glancing around at the other dancers. Everyone was smiling, patting each other on the back and congratulating each other on a job well done. A few dancers were hugging Sabrina, who had done a marvelous job as the peacock. Marinette dropped Adrien’s hand, smiling at him.

“You did a great job tonight,” she said. “I’m going to go talk to Sabrina, but I’ll meet up with you when Alya gets back here, okay?”

He nodded and Marinette walked off. Alya had gotten permission from Gabriel to come backstage to conduct interviews and cover the event both for her blog and for a school project. Alya was incredibly excited and hadn’t stopped going on about it to Marinette or Nino or anyone who would listen.

The dancers had time after the show to change into street clothes before a final short meeting with Tikki and Plagg and Gabriel for notes. After that there was time to meet with the press and do some PR before they went home. Alya would be coming backstage during that time.

Marinette headed into the dressing room to change, wiping the makeup off her face and pulling her hair out of its bun. She made sure the door was shut before carefully stripping out of her costume and hanging it up on the rack. She pulled on a comfy pair of workout pants and Adrien’s old t-shirt. He’d given it to her a while before, so it didn’t smell like him anymore, but it was still comfortable and reminded her of him.

_God, I’m in deep._

She shook her head, as if to shake off the feelings she had for her partner, and set her pointe shoes on the floor next to her costume. She was going to have to deal with the press for the first time and she couldn’t afford to be distracted for that.

She decided not to wear shoes and headed out to the stage, where the rest of the dancers were slowly gathering for notes from Tikki and Plagg. Tikki was beaming like a proud mother and Plagg’s arm was casually resting around her waist.

“Everyone did so wonderfully!” Tikki exclaimed once the dancers had arrived. “This was probably one of the best opening nights that I’ve had! Marinette, Adrien, Pas de Deux was gorgeous. Sabrina, you were absolutely fabulous. Kids, I loved your dance, it was great. I have only a few notes.”

She corrected a few things and made a few comments on a couple of the dances, but doled out her criticism with compliments and a big smile as usual. When she’d finished, she turned to Plagg. 

“Anything from you, Plagg?”

Plagg shrugged.

“Keep up the good work,” he said. “This is starting to look like our best year yet.”

Marinette led the little kids out to where their parents were waiting, telling each of them goodbye with a hug. She headed back inside, where Alya and Nino were talking to Adrien. Alya had her phone out and was taking an audio recording of the interview.

“And what about your partner?” Marinette heard Alya say. Adrien laughed a little, scratching the back of his head.

“She’s an excellent dancer,” he said. “And she’s one of the nicest, kindest people I know. It’s been a lot of fun working with her.”

Marinette spotted Alya’s grin and the look she shared with Nino and walked up.

“Hey,” she said. Alya squealed, hugging her tightly.

“Marinette, you were amazing! I’m so proud of you!”

“Thanks,” Marinette said, returning the hug with a smile. “I’m glad you enjoyed yourself. Have you gotten any other interviews, or are you just harassing me and Adrien?”

Alya smirked a little, glancing at Nino.

“Currently just you two,” she said. “But I’m planning on talking to Sabrina, the girl that played the peacock, and maybe some of the dancers that auditioned in. I’m coming back on another day, so I’ll be able to talk to more dancers then.”

“That’s good,” Marinette said.

“Hey, I’ve got a surprise for you two,” Nino blurted. Marinette barely caught Alya rolling her eyes. She turned to Nino.

“Really?” Adrien said, crossing his arms over his chest. “What kind of surprise?”

“If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise,” Nino said slyly. “Come on, I’ll show you. This way.”

Marinette and Adrien shared a confused look, but they followed Nino through the maze of hallways backstage. Marinette wondered what kind of a “surprise” Nino had prepared for them. Alya followed, giggling a little.

As they kept going further and further into the backstage area, Marinette started to get a little suspicious. Nobody ever really came back there. Why would Nino and Alya set up some kind of surprise back there?

Nino finally stopped in front of an unmarked door, setting his hand on the handle.

“Your surprise is just inside this door,” he said dramatically. He grinned at Adrien and Marinette. “Are you ready?”

Marinette rolled her eyes.

“Come on, Nino, just show us what it is.”

“If you insist.”

He whipped the door open and before Marinette had a chance to peek inside to see what it was that they had been dragged back there to see, she was shoved from behind. She let out a surprised cry, stumbling into Adrien, and the two of them went tumbling through the door. It snapped shut behind them and Marinette heard the unmistakable sound of a lock clicking. Her eyes widened and her cheeks burned a bright red.

“Alya!” she shrieked, turning to the closed door. “Let us out!”

“Not until you confront your feelings!” came the reply. “We’ll come back in a couple hours, don’t worry!”

“ALYA!”

She heard laughter and footsteps fading. She turned back to Adrien, ready to apologize, but realized that she could barely see him.

They’d been shoved into a dark room. From what Marinette could tell, it was an empty storage closet. It felt pretty cramped. She reached out, searching for a light switch and ran straight into Adrien’s chest.

“Oh, sorry–”

Adrien pinned her against the door and pressed his lips to hers.

Marinette melted into the kiss, her hands finding their way to his hair. She ran her fingers through the soft strands, combing out any remnants of hair gel. His hands were on her waist, fingers digging into her flesh. He kissed her once, twice, enough to make her head spin.

“Adrien,” she gasped when he pulled back and started kissing her neck. She felt him smile.

“You’re wearing that shirt I gave you,” he murmured, tugging on the hem. “Back in September.”

“I like it,” she said, pulling him back up to give him a proper kiss. He hummed, his hands slipping under the hem, and gripped her hips. He pulled her closer.

“It looks good on you,” he said. “And every single time I see you in it–” He kissed her jaw. “I want to pin you against the wall and kiss you senseless.”

Marinette tugged on his hair, tangled in between her fingers. In response, he lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist, her bare toes curling into his shirt. His lips found her again and she remembered their drunk Halloween encounter. She felt a little giddy knowing that they may have done the same thing sober.

It wasn’t long before Adrien’s hands found the hem of her shirt again and began tugging up. She smiled against his lips.

“You’re eager,” she murmured, pressing a chaste kiss to his cheek.

“I love you,” he replied. Marinette pulled back, her eyes widening as she searched for his facial expression in the dark.

“What?”

Immediately he tried to lower her to the ground, but she wouldn’t let him, tightening her legs around his waist and gripping the back of his neck.

“I’m sorry,” he said, and she could tell he was pulling away emotionally. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

Marinette started laughing, and pressed kisses all over his face, pulling closer and resting her head on his shoulder.

“Don’t apologize,” she said. “I love you too.”

A moment of silence, and then Adrien’s hands gripped her hips tightly again and his mouth was on her neck, insistent and needy. She tilted her head to give him better access and nearly moaned when he sank his teeth into the soft flesh at the base.

She took his face in her hands and pulled him up to meet her mouth again. She felt him smile against her lips and let him tug her shirt over her head before he pressed her bare back into the cool wood of the door. Marinette felt her cheeks flush even as she pulled herself even closer and deepened the kiss.

She was beginning to think that she should thank Alya and Nino when she saw them next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was not supposed to end in sin wtf happened
> 
> Enjoy it while it lasts because the plot is going to return soon to f*ck shit up.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which the plot returns... With a vengeance

“Your parents sound wonderful,” Adrien said, rubbing his thumb in slow circles on Marinette’s waist.

“They are,” Marinette sighed. “You should definitely meet them sometime. I think they’d like you.”

“Why, because I’m infinitely charming?”

“No, you dork,” Marinette laughed, poking him in the side. “Because you’re just as passionate about dance as I am. Alya was kind of my only friend that shared my interests, and they love her. But she doesn’t actually dance, she just writes about it. You actually dance.”

“But I’m not nearly as talented as you, Princess,” Adrien laughed. “You made your own costume. And it’s beautiful. At least I already know that my dad approves of you.”

“Yeah, I suppose that’s good.” Marinette turned her head a little so that her ear was pressed to his heartbeat. They sat in silence for another second. “How long do you think we’ve been in here?”

Adrien shrugged.

“Time flies when I’m with you, Spots,” he said. Marinette rolled her eyes and reached up to take his face in her hands so that she could press her lips to his.

The door slammed open and the two of them jumped apart. Alya was standing there with a wide grin.

“Ha!” she cried, pointing a finger at them. “It worked!” She turned to Nino. “Pay up!”

Nino grumbled to himself and handed over a small wad of cash. Adrien laughed, shielding his eyes from the sudden light that was pouring into the closet.

“You guys bet on this?”

Alya snorted.

“Of course we did. Now, is there anybody else in the company that needs a good closet session?”

“Tikki and Plagg,” the two of them said in unison. Alya laughed.

“Noted. Anyone else?”

“Rose and Juleka,” Adrien said after a second. “I’ve got a running bet with Kim.”

“Thanks,” Alya said. Marinette moved to get up, but before she could, the closet door slammed shut and the lock clicked again.

“Did she just–?”

“Yeah.”

 

Nino came back to let the two of them out eventually, telling them that Tikki and Plagg were nowhere to be found, though they had found a mysteriously locked dressing room. Rose and Juleka were currently in a closet as well.

“Honestly, I knew you two were going to have to admit it to each other and yourselves at some point,” Nino said, walking with them back towards the main stage. “I just wasn’t sure the closet thing was going to work.

“Ye of little faith,” Alya said, joining their little group. Adrien had his arm around Marinette’s waist and the two of them were trying to walk in sync. “I knew it would work. My plans always work. Besides, considering what happened on Halloween, I knew they’d give in to their sexual tension eventually.”

“What happened on Halloween?” Adrien asked, an expression of confusion taking over his features. Alya snorted, looking at Marinette.

“You haven’t told him yet?”

Marinette turned beet red, hiding her face behind her hands. Adrien stopped walking, his arm leaving her waist.

“Marinette?”

“We slept together on Halloween,” she blurted, turning a deeper shade of red. “You don’t remember. We were both pretty drunk.”

A moment of silence. Marinette dared to peek through her fingers at Adrien. He started to laugh.

“I was wondering what had happened,” he chuckled. “It was weird waking up and not remembering how I got where I was.”

“You’re not mad?” Marinette squeaked. Adrien laughed even harder, wrapping his arms around her waist and pressing his lips to her forehead.

“Of course not. Why would I be?”

Marinette relaxed, hugging him back. Alya snorted and said something about “idiots” before she kept walking towards the main stage. Adrien pulled back and gave Marinette one last kiss, still laughing a little.

“About damn time,” someone said. Marinette and Adrien jumped apart, Marinette’s face flushing. They saw Sabrina standing there with her hands on her hips. Adrien raised an eyebrow at her and she just rolled her eyes and walked off.

“’About damn time’?” Marinette wondered. Adrien shrugged, slinging an arm around her shoulders again.

“She was probably waiting for us to kiss like Alya and Nino. You know Nino confronted me the other day about you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” Adrien laughed again, scratching the back of his head awkwardly, the way he did when he was nervous. “He said that I needed to tell you how I felt. But I didn’t have the guts.”

“Why not?”

“Every time I saw you, we were at rehearsal. And you never showed much interest in me at rehearsal. For a while I was convinced you didn’t like me. Outside of the studio you never really even met my eyes. I was afraid you’d reject me and I didn’t want to ruin our partnership.”

“I had a crush on you for the longest time too,” Marinette said, leaning her head against his side as they walked. “But I was always too shy to say anything.”

Adrien laughed.

“I guess the closet gave us confidence.”

“Not looking at your dumb face helped,” Marinette said, poking him in the side. Adrien put one hand on his chest in mock offense.

“My face is not dumb!” he cried indignantly. “It’s ruggedly handsome!”

Marinette laughed even harder at that. By then they’d reached the main stage. Only a few dancers acknowledged their presence at all, much less their close proximity to each other. Marinette guessed that for them, it seemed natural.

“Adrien.” Alya hurried up to them, grim-faced. “Sauvageot’s here.”

Adrien’s expression went from a carefree smile to a scowl.

“What does he want?”

“He’s making up some BS excuse about wanting to see Marinette. It doesn’t matter, we just need to get you out of here. If you get within thirty feet of him–”

“I know,” Adrien muttered. “I might go to jail.” He turned to Marinette and pressed a light kiss to the top of her head. “I’ll see you soon, okay? I’m just going to get out of his way so that he doesn’t try to sue me for something stupid.”

Marinette nodded, her heart jumping. She knew exactly why Sauvageot was suddenly showing up. She’d asked him to.

“I’m going to go talk to him,” she told Alya. Alya frowned.

“What? Girl, that is a bad idea. That guy stinks of cologne and bad news. You don’t want to go near him.”

“I’ve dealt with him before,” Marinette argued half-heartedly. “I can handle him.”

Alya’s frown deepened.

“I don’t like this,” she said. “But, if you insist. I’m coming with you.”

Marinette protested a little, but allowed Alya to follow her outside to where Sauvageot was. He gave her a sickly sweet smile.

“It’s wonderful to see you again, Mademoiselle,” he said. “I trust the show went well?”

“Yes, it went wonderfully,” Marinette said, twisting her fingers together.

“Now, you wanted to speak about employment options at Le Papillon?”

Marinette heard Alya suck in a shocked breath next to her but chose to ignore it.

“Yes.”

“Excellent. Our next show, the one we are currently working on, is _Swan Lake._ Mademoiselle Bourgeois is playing the part of Odette, as a part of the conditions of her employment, but I’m sure we could cast you as Odile, if you’d like.”

“And the starting salary?”

“50% more than your starting salary at Agreste.”

Marinette nodded, wrapping her arms around herself. She could still feel Adrien’s arms around her and guilt burned in her gut at what he would say if he knew she was negotiating employment at Le Papillon.

“Marinette–”

“Just a second, Alya. I’ll be able to finish out my current show at Agreste?”

“Of course,” Sauvageot said, his smile widening. “I’ll give you three weeks to think about it, but then I’ll need a final answer. Does that sound good to you?”

“Yes, thank you,” Marinette practically whispered, tightening her arms around herself. Sauvageot set a hand on her shoulder before leaving. He nodded politely at Alya as he left, who was standing next to Marinette with her mouth hanging open. Once Sauvageot’s purple suit had disappeared down the street, Alya turned to Marinette and smacked her on the arm.

“What are you thinking?” she demanded, her eyes wide. “You can’t go to Le Papillon! Money’s a little tight, I know, but we can work it out! Besides, once the show is over, funding will go up again. I was in the audience, Marinette, I saw the people that saw you dance! They said they’d donate to a dance company like this one if they had dancers like that!”

“It’s not just money that’s the problem here,” Marinette said, staring at the ground. “The other day, I heard Tikki and Plagg arguing. Apparently Monsieur Agreste is considering cutting dancers and Tikki and Plagg would be the first to go. I won’t let them get fired. If I leave, that means one less dancer to pay. It won’t be much, but it might save them their jobs. Dance is all those two have. That and each other. If they get fired, they won’t be working with each other anymore.”

Alya crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at Marinette. 

“I can’t let you do this,” she said stubbornly. “That man provoked Adrien into punching him in the face. I don’t like him and I don’t like the looks of Le Papillon. And Adrien!” The redhead’s eyes widened, then narrowed. “What would he say to this?”

“I don’t know, Alya, but please don’t tell him,” Marinette said. “I don’t know if I’m going to do it and I don’t want to tell him until I know for sure.”

Alya stared at her for another second. She finally let out an annoyed huff of air, promised not to tell Adrien, and went back inside. She left Marinette standing alone on the sidewalk, fingers digging into the shirt that Adrien had given her all those months ago, when things were simpler.

 

When she went back into the studio, she spotted Adrien conversing in low tones with Alya. She guessed what they were talking about and looked down at the ground, heading for her dressing room instead. When she got there, though, the door was locked. She frowned, twisting the knob again. It still didn’t budge.

“Hello?” she knocked on the door. “Is anyone in there? I just want my bag.”

A clearly fake falsetto came.

“Umm, just give me a minute!”

Marinette rolled her eyes, resting her hand on the door.

“Plagg, I know that’s you. When I told you and Tikki to get a room, I didn’t mean _my_ room.”

A familiar giggle.

“Uhh, no Plagg here!” the falsetto responded. “Just… the cleaning lady!”

Marinette sighed, smiling a little to herself.

“Okay, I’ll come back in half an hour. You better be out by then!”

Another laugh, and the sound of someone falling to the ground. Marinette rolled her eyes one last time and headed back to where she’d seen Adrien and Alya last.

Adrien was sitting just backstage, staring out at the stage. Alya was nowhere to be found, probably off harassing other dancers. Marinette smiled hesitantly at Adrien, arms wrapped around herself.

“Hey,” she said softly. He looked up at her and his face broke into a smile.

“Hey there, Princess,” he said. The typical endearment suddenly felt much sweeter with the extra emotion behind it. He gestured for her to join him. “Have a seat. What did Sauvageot want?”

Marinette shrugged, sitting down next to him. The tension left her shoulders. If he was asking, that meant Alya hadn’t told him.

“The usual. To recruit me. Where’s Alya?”

“Off checking on Rose and Juleka. Then I’m pretty sure she’s going to do some more interviews. Have you seen Tikki and Plagg?”

Marinette snorted.

“Haven’t seen them, but I know where they are. Remember that mysteriously locked dressing room Nino mentioned?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s mine.”

Adrien’s eyes widened as this processed and he started to laugh.

“How do you know they’re in there?” he asked.

“I knocked and Plagg tried to trick me with that stupid falsetto he used to use to imitate Chloe. I heard Tikki laughing, too.”

Adrien laughed even harder, slinging his arm around her shoulders.

“We could always wait for them to finish up in my dressing room,” he said, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. Marinette rolled her eyes, though the smile didn’t leave her face.

“I don’t know, I kind of wanted to be able to walk home,” she joked. Adrien’s eyes widened at the implication and she raised one eyebrow at him. He smiled, leaning in to kiss her softly.

“Well, Princess, you can always tell me what you want,” he said quietly. “Your wish is my command.”

Marinette smiled, pulling him down for another kiss.

“I wish for you,” she whispered to him. He smiled even wider.

“That’s a wish I’ll be happy to grant.”

 

Three weeks. Marinette had three weeks to make one of the hardest decisions in her life.

She stared at the ceiling in her room, with the glow-in-the-dark stars she’d stuck to it staring back at her. What was she thinking? Could she really betray Tikki and Plagg and Adrien and all her other friends at Agreste?

Adrien had walked her home and kissed her goodnight at the door once Tikki and Plagg had gotten out of her dressing room. The second the door to her apartment had closed behind her, she’d gone to her room and collapsed on her bed, still fully dressed, so that she could think.

And yet the last thing she wanted was to be thinking.

She groaned, pressing the heels of her palms into her eyes. After another second, she hauled herself up off her bed and grabbed her phone off the nightstand. She dug her headphones out of one of her pockets and headed out to the living room.

Alya wasn’t home yet, so Marinette had the whole apartment to herself. She stuck her headphones in her ears and flicked through her music library until she found the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. She checked to make sure she’d cleared enough space. Once she was satisfied with her preparations, she put the song on loop and turned it up loud enough to drown anything else out, tucking her phone in her pocket.

She had to have been dancing for at least an hour when she stopped to take a break and get a glass of water. She turned around to head for the kitchen and drew up short.

Alya was sitting at the counter, arms and legs crossed and a scowl on her face.

“Alya,” Marinette said, trying to play it off. “I didn’t notice you get home.”

“You’re planning on switching to Le Papillon.” It wasn’t a question. Not even an accusation. Just a simple statement. Marinette still flinched.

“I’m thinking about it,” she corrected, pulling her shirt off and tossing it on the couch. That left her in just a sports bra and shorts. Alya didn’t even bat an eye. “I haven’t decided yet.”

“You’re thinking about switching to Le Papillon,” Alya amended, her eyes narrowing. “Why?”

Marinette shot her friend a sharp look, reaching into the cabinet for a glass.

“You know why.”

“You gave me a bullshit reason why,” Alya retorted. “And I respected your wishes and didn’t tell Adrien. But I still want to know why.”

“I told you why. I don’t know what else you want me to say.”

“I want you to say that you aren’t going to do it!” Alya cried, standing up with her hands balled into fists at her side. “I want you to say that you’re not going to break Adrien’s heart like that!”

“It’s not like I’m going to be moving out of Paris, I’ll just be switching studios. I’m not contemplating suicide, Alya.”

Alya groaned, stringing her hands through her hair.

“You don’t get it!” she shouted. “Adrien looks at you like you’re the sun and you still don’t get it! The boy loves you, Marinette! And after Chloe leaving, the last thing he needs is _you_ , of all people, to leave him too!”

“You think I want to leave?” Marinette yelled back, slamming the glass down on the counter so hard it cracked. “You think I want to go work for a man that _since day one_ has been trying to tear me away from Agreste? You think I want this? No! I don’t! But I don’t have much of a choice, do I? I need to do what’s best for us!”

“Since when did you get to decide what’s best for us without talking to _me_ first?” Alya screamed, one hand slamming down onto the counter. Marinette blinked, all anger leaving her in a rush at the sight of the tears sparkling in her best friend’s eyes.

“Alya–”

“I’m going over to Nino and Adrien’s tonight. I’ll see you later.”

Before Marinette could fully process what had happened, Alya was gone again. Marinette stared at the closed door that she’d left through, tears pushing their way to the surface. She sank to her knees, burying her face in her hands. Sobs wracked her entire body as she sat on the kitchen floor.

_What had she done?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoo this was painful to write
> 
> Sorry for the lack of updates in the past week. I've had some seriously crazy writers block, but I'm feeling better now and hope to get the next chapter posted soon!
> 
> *evil laughter*  
> Sorry not sorry


	10. Chapter 10

Adrien didn’t meet her eyes when she arrived at work the next day and Marinette knew why. It stung, of course, but she understood. She walked past him to her dressing room and shut herself in, not wanting to feel the guilt. She sat down heavily in front of the mirror and stared at her reflection. Black hair hanging loose around her shoulders. Large blue eyes. Round, pink lips. A barely-noticeable dusting of freckles across her nose and cheeks. 

_Traitor._

She turned away from the mirror and got up, gathering her warm-up things so that she could start getting ready for the show. It didn’t start for another several hours, but there was a lot to do in that time.   
She didn’t meet the eyes of any of the dancers in the backstage area, heading for the practice room that they’d set up. She set her bag down by the door and turned on the stereo. The first notes of the overture began to play and she sat down to begin stretching.

She was going over the trickiest part of Pas de Deux when a hand landed on her waist, guiding her through the steps meant for two. At first, she didn’t even notice; the whole thing feeling natural as ever. It was a few seconds later that she realized what was happening and abruptly tripped. 

“Clumsy ballerina,” Adrien laughed, catching her before she could fall. Marinette turned a bright red and stepped away from him.

“Hey,” she said. His smile dropped away.

“I can’t talk you out of it, can I?”

Marinette shook her head, wrapping her arms around herself. Adrien stepped forward, reaching out to touch her arm.

“Can I at least try?”

She shrugged, casting her gaze to the ground. He sighed and tugged her closer to him, pulling her against his chest. She inhaled shakily, tears burning behind her eyes.

“I don’t want to leave,” she said quietly. His arms tightened around her.

“Then why are you?” 

“I don’t have much of a choice. Alya and I are barely scraping by, and with these pay cuts and our current bills I’m not sure if we can make it to New Year’s unscathed. On top of that, I heard Tikki and Plagg talking the other day. Dancers are going to start getting cut and they’ll be the first to go.”

“Yeah, Alya told me all of that. I still don’t think you have to go to Le Papillon. We can figure out another way, I’m sure of it. Besides, I don’t like the looks of Sauvageot. He seems like he’s up to something and I haven’t even heard from Chloe since she left. I don’t want you to disappear to.”

“I’m not leaving Paris, I’m just switching studios,” Marinette said. “I’ll be fine. We’ll still see each other, right?”

Adrien said nothing to that, only tightened his hold on her. 

“I don’t want you to go,” he finally said, his voice sounding small and broken. “I don’t want you to leave.”

Marinette pulled back and stood on her toes to press a soft kiss to his lips. 

“I still love you,” she said, smiling a little. Tears were shining in Adrien’s eyes and she hated it, hated that she had made him feel that way. “I’m just trying to do what’s best for me and Alya and everyone else.”

Adrien pulled her against him again, burying his face in her hair. She wrapped her arms around him, returning the embrace, and tried not to cry. When had everything gotten so messed up?

“Maybe if I’d never come to Agreste, none of this would have happened.”

“Don’t say that.”

“It’s true, isn’t it? Chloe left because of me–”

“Chloe left because she can’t handle anyone being better than her.” Adrien kissed the side of her head gently. “None of this is your fault.”

“I destroy everything I touch,” Marinette whispered. She felt him shake his head.

“Nah, that’s my job, Spots. Now, are we going to practice or are we just going to stand here forever?"

“Standing here forever feels like a good option,” Marinette muttered, but she pulled away and went over to the stereo to reset the music.

They danced like nobody was watching, like it was only the two of them in the studio, even as more dancers filed in and began warming up at the barres. They danced as if the Pas de Deux was the only dance they would ever do, as if it was all that mattered. Marinette bit back tears and tried to enjoy every second of it, knowing full well that she might be leaving Agreste.

Eventually she found herself sitting in front of the mirror in the dressing room, Tikki flitting around her and adjusting her makeup.

“So,” Tikki said. “I hear you’re considering switching studios.”

Marinette stiffened, but Tikki’s smile didn’t fade at all.

“Adrien told me earlier today,” Tikki explained. “I hope you don’t have to switch.”

“Yeah, me too,” Marinette said, staring at the floor. Tikki put one finger on Marinette’s chin and tilted her head up. 

“It’s okay,” she said softly. “I understand. I hope you won’t, but I understand.”

Marinette nodded and Tikki continued her makeup application.

“I hope you’ll stay,” Tikki said. “I haven’t seen Adrien this happy since his mom disappeared. He smiles so much more since you’ve been around. I’d missed seeing him smile. I know Plagg feels the same way, even if he’d never admit it. Adrien’s smile was a rare occurrence until you came to Agreste.”  
“Plagg seems like he secretly cares a lot,” Marinette said, trying to steer the conversation into safer waters. If Tikki noticed, she didn’t say anything.

“He’s…” Tikki sighed. “He’s grumpy a lot of the time. And a pain in my ass.”

“In more ways than one,” Marinette said slyly, waggling her eyebrows. Tikki smacked her upside the head in retaliation, cheeks flaming. 

“Get your mind out of the gutter!” she scolded, scowling at the younger ballerina. Marinette just laughed, smiling at her mentor. Tikki softened only a second later, resuming her work on Marinette’s face and hair.

“Plagg might seem like an ass sometimes, but he’s a real sweetheart under a layer of pure grump,” Tikki explained. “I’ve been working with him for a long time, so I know how to recognize when he’s really just quietly caring. He cares about Adrien a lot more than he’ll admit to anyone, even me. Adrien was always around the studio growing up, sometimes dancing with his mom, and Plagg hasn’t forgotten that. To Plagg, Adrien is still that little boy that fell over at the barre and always wanted to try on Plagg’s ‘dancer shoes’.”

Marinette was silent for a few minutes, thinking over what Tikki had said and all the decisions that she had yet to make.

“Everything’s gone crazy, hasn’t it?” she said quietly. Tikki let out a short laugh.

“Understatement of the year.”

“You said Adrien’s mother was a dancer. What parts did she play?”

“Odette in Swan Lake, usually. The peacock in the Nutcracker. She was a wonderful lady.”

“Did you know her?” 

“Everyone did. She was quite the personality around here. Well-loved, respected, and the nicest person. We were all hit hard when she disappeared. Adrien especially. Monsieur Agreste… Well, he seemed to just retreat further into himself. Spent more time alone in his office. Became even colder and more distant to Adrien. It was hard for everyone.”

Marinette nodded again, processing that information. Tikki stepped back, looking over Marinette’s face one last time.

“Looks good,” she said approvingly. “And it’s almost time to start. Are you good from here?”

“Yeah. Thanks again.”

Tikki nodded and slipped out of the dressing room. Marinette stared at her own reflection for a few minutes longer before getting up and stripping off her clothes so that she could put on her costume for the first act. 

She was struggling with the ribbons in the back when there was a soft knock on the door.

“Who is it?”

“It’s just Adrien.”

“Come on in. I need your help anyways.”

Adrien shut the door gently behind him, eyebrows raising at the sight before him – Marinette struggling with the ribbons that laced up the back of her dress. Her first-act costume was a red dress with a swooshing, flowing skirt and lace up the back. Marinette liked it a lot, but the ribbons were difficult and Tikki had forgotten to help her before she left. Adrien smirked and walked over, taking the ribbons from Marinette’s fingers. 

“My lady, if you’d needed my help, you should have asked for me,” he purred, deftly lacing the top together and tying a neat bow. “Although, I would have hoped you’d ask me to undo the ribbons of your dress instead of tie them.”

Marinette smacked his arm halfheartedly, laughing a little.

“Mind out of the gutter, Agreste,” she said. “We’ve got a show in ten minutes.”

Adrien shrugged, stepping a little closer with a suggestive grin. 

“Seems like plenty of time to me,” he said. Marinette flushed almost as red as her dress and put one finger on his nose, pushing him away.

“Get back to your own dressing room,” she said in a strangled voice. Adrien grinned one last time at her and hurried out, throwing a wink over his shoulder. Marinette rolled her eyes, sitting down to tie on her pointe shoes. That boy would be the death of her.

The show ran smoothly the second night in a row, and this time Marinette actually met with the press and people in the lobby, since she wasn’t locked in a closet with a certain blonde dancer. She smiled and accepted compliments and listened to people who gushed over her costume and her dancing. She finally excused herself to go back to her dressing room, wanting to escape the madness. She tripped and literally fell out of the room, blushing at the laughter that echoed from the people she had just left behind.   
A second later, a gentle hand landed on her lower back, guiding her away.  
“I see you’re busy making friends,” Adrien said in a low voice. “Are you going to be okay?”

“I think so,” Marinette said, smoothing down her skirt to give her hands something to do. “That wasn’t so bad. Is it always like that?”

“Nah,” Adrien said. “There are some nights when everyone is demanding pictures or yelling and it’s so overwhelming and you can’t breathe.”

Marinette’s chest constricted.

“Really?"

Adrien laughed, giving her a little squeeze.

“Of course not. Lighten up, Spots. This is the ballet scene. If we were in the fashion business, that’d be a whole other animal, but we’re not. That’s about as bad as it gets.”

Marinette smacked him lightly on the chest for scaring her, but kept up the conversation as they headed back towards the dressing rooms. She was glad that the performance had gone well, but it was too early to see if it had gone well enough for her to stay at Agreste. 

“Marinette,” Adrien said. “Do you maybe want to come over tonight? Watch a movie? Hang out?"

Marinette twisted to look at him, his arm still around her waist. He was looking at her with an almost nervous expression. She smiled lightly at him.

“Sure. Just let me change into regular clothes.”

He grinned, letting go of her only when they’d reached her dressing room. Marinette hurried to gather her things and strip off her costume, hanging it up on the rack against the wall. She ran into Tikki on her way out. 

“Whoa, there,” Tikki laughed. “You’re in a hurry to get somewhere. Got a hot date?”

“Yes, actually,” Marinette said. “Adrien invited me over for a movie night.”

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” Tikki said, winking at Marinette.

“Not a good standard, considering what you and Plagg were doing in my dressing room,” Marinette said, ducking to escape Tikki’s swing at her and heading out the door with a cheeky grin. She grabbed Adrien’s wrist the second she saw him and pulled him along with her. He laughed, jogging to catch up.

“In a hurry, I see,” he said. “Eager to spend more time with me?” 

“No, you dork, I’m running away from Tikki.”

Adrien suddenly yanked her to a stop. Marinette nearly fell over and barely righted herself, scowling at Adrien.

“What was that–”

“Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng,” a smooth voice said. Marinette froze, turning to look at Sauvageot. He was dressed in his usual purple suit, this time also twirling a sleek cane. She drew herself up to her full height, hoping she didn’t look as scared as she felt.

“Monsieur Sauvageot,” she said coolly. “How could I help you?”

“A few things have… come up,” he said. “We’re going to need your answer within the next week or so. My offer only lasts for that period of time. Unless you already have decided.”

“Stay away from her,” Adrien hissed, stepping forward. Sauvageot regarded the blonde dancer like he was a rather interesting bug he’d found on his shoe.

“In case you haven’t forgotten, Monsieur Agreste, I still have a restraining order against you. I could already have you arrested simply for being within thirty feet of me.”

Adrien paled.

“That’s not fair!” Marinette cried. “He didn’t know you’d be here!”

“Nonetheless,” Sauvageot said, turning back to Marinette. “The deadline has changed. I hope to see you again soon, Mademoiselle.”

He walked off wordlessly, his cane clacking against the ground with every other step. Adrien glared after him, shaking with silent rage. Marinette set a hand on her partner’s chest.

“Come on,” she said quietly. She forced a smile at him. “You promised me a movie night, remember?”

Adrien nodded, but his eyes were still trained on the deep purple suit that was disappearing into the crowd down the street. Marinette gently tugged on his wrist, pulling him along. 

“I don’t know where your apartment is,” she said, finally drawing him out of his thoughts. He took the lead, lacing their fingers together and letting their hands swing between them as they walked. Marinette considered starting a conversation again, but decided against it, opting to simply enjoy the quiet walk.   
Adrien’s apartment was not too different from Marinette’s. She set her bag down by the door, tucking a strand of hair behind one ear, and took in the ratty couch, the CDs, and the occasional dirty pair of socks.

“Just make yourself at home,” Adrien called from the kitchen. “I’m going to make some popcorn. Sorry for the mess, Nino and I aren’t super clean.”

“I can tell,” Marinette laughed. She plopped down on the couch, pleased to find it just as comfy as it looked. She heard the microwave door slam and snuggled into the cushions, letting her eyes droop from the tiring day she’d had. Adrien joined her after a minute, a bowl of popcorn in his hands.

“What do you want to watch?” he asked.

“A Monster in Paris,” Marinette yawned. “I could use a good cartoon right now.”

“Your wish is my command, my lady,” Adrien said, getting up to set up the DVD player.

“You’ve got so many nicknames for me,” Marinette said. “Why don’t I have a nickname for you?”

Adrien paused, looking back at her with an innocent smile.

“I’m sure I don’t know, Princess,” he said. 

“You went as a cat for Halloween,” Marinette murmured. She snapped her fingers when it came to her. “Chat Noir! Chat for short. Or chaton, if I’m feeling particularly affectionate.”

Adrien laughed, returning to her side with the popcorn. 

“Sounds good to me,” he said, giving her a little kiss on the nose.

Marinette ended up falling asleep with her head in his lap and his scent in her nose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gonna be honest, this was a difficult chapter. It's mostly for transitional purposes, but I hope to have the next one up soon!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to clear up any confusion that may come about, this chapter is written from Adrien's perspective because reasons.

Adrien woke before Marinette, stretching his arms out behind his head. The clock read 2:26 AM. He looked down at the sleeping girl in his lap and smiled. Her hair was tied into cute little pigtails, but a few strands had escaped. He gently smoothed them down.

A loud buzzing interrupted Adrien’s thoughts. He quickly grabbed his phone before the sound could wake Marinette.

“Adrien, I got some info for you,” Alya said without preamble. Adrien laughed quietly.

“Hello to you too, Alya. What did you find?”

“Le Papillon is almost entirely funded through private donations, mostly from that asshole that has a restraining order on you.”

“Sauvageot?”

“Yeah, him. Anyways, the whole thing is pretty shady. I could find literally no information on Sauvageot past basic stuff like the fact that he’s married with one daughter. Also, he doesn’t just work at Le Papillon. He _owns_ the studio.”

Adrien glanced down at Marinette, who murmured something inaudible in her sleep and shifted a little. He checked to make sure the blanket he’d gotten her hadn’t slipped off.

“Have you found any more information on Le Papillon’s recruitment? How do they get their dancers?”

“There’s a page on their website for scheduled auditions, but other than that, no.”

Adrien sighed, dragging one hand down his face.

“Okay. Okay, thanks. Let me know if you find out anything more.”

“Will do. Is Marinette still over at your place?”

“Yeah, she’s still sleeping.”

“Oh.” Adrien heard the change in Alya’s tone. “Still sleeping, huh? Had too much fun?”

“Yeah, we watched a movie and she fell asleep.”

He could practically hear the pout in Alya’s voice.

“You’re no fun.”

“Good _bye_ , Alya.”

“Later, dork.”

Adrien hung up, laughing a little. He tossed his phone aside and slid his fingers into Marinette’s hair, undoing her pigtails. She let out a little sigh in her sleep, turning towards his hands. He smiled, running his fingers through the soft strands. Marinette turned a little more, until her face was pressed into his stomach.

“Marinette,” he said softly. “Wakey wakey.”

She made a sleepy little sound and cracked her eyes open, peering blearily up at him.

“Hello,” Adrien sang, grinning down at her. “Did you sleep well?”

“Dork,” she said. He laughed, leaning down to give her a little kiss on the forehead.

“But I’m _your_ dork,” he said. She rolled her eyes and shut them again, snuggling into him a little more. He laughed again, still running his fingers through her hair.

“You have to get up at some point. Alya probably wants you home.”

“Five more minutes,” she murmured. “You’re warm.”

Adrien wasn’t about to complain.

 

When Marinette finally got up, she headed to the bathroom sleepily, rubbing at her eyes. Adrien decided to try his hand at making something for them to eat and checked the fridge for anything worth making. He heard the door handle to the apartment rattle, then Nino walked in.

“Dude, you’re up late. What’s up?”

“Not much,” Adrien sighed, shutting the fridge. “We’re out of milk.”

“Yeah, I was gonna get some while I was out, but I forgot.”

“Too busy doing other things?” Adrien asked, quirking an eyebrow at his friend. Nino just rolled his eyes with a grin.

“Hey, Nino,” Marinette yawned, sitting down at the kitchen table. Adrien noticed that she was wearing one of his shirts and a pair of his sleep shorts.

“Marinette!” Nino’s voice was full of surprise. “I didn’t know you were still here.”

“Yeah, I fell asleep. Adrien, I hope you don’t mind I borrowed some of your stuff. I didn’t think I was going to fall asleep so I didn’t have anything with me.”

“Nah, I don’t mind,” Adrien grinned. “It’s cute on you.”

Nino pretended to barf into the sink.

“Jeez, get a room,” he grinned. Adrien threw a wooden spoon at him, saying, “Shut up!” Nino just laughed and said goodnight before heading to his room. Marinette was laughing softly, the sound like music to Adrien’s ears. A part of him still couldn’t believe that his beautiful partner was sitting at his kitchen table, wearing his clothes. He finally gave up on getting food and sat down next to her, settling one arm around her shoulders and letting her lean against him.

“Wonder why Nino was out so late,” Marinette yawned. Adrien shrugged.

“He was probably with Alya.”

It wasn’t the full truth, but it wasn’t a lie either. Nino was with Alya. The two of them were looking into Le Papillon for Adrien. He wasn’t about to tell Marinette that, though.

The two of them sat in silence for a little bit longer.

“I’m surprised,” Marinette said softly. Adrien twisted to look at her.

“About what?”

“You.” She yawned again. “Alya’s been trying nonstop to convince me to stay at Agreste, but you haven’t tried even once.”

Adrien felt a little pang of guilt, but forced a smile at her. He was going to try to convince her to stay, just not yet.

“I respect your decision,” he said slowly. “I want you to be happy. I care about you, so I want you to be happy. And if that means I have to be okay with you going to Le Papillon, then that’s what it is.”

Marinette grinned.

“You’re too perfect for me,” she muttered. “What did I do to deserve you?”

Adrien swallowed down another bit of guilt, fighting to keep a smile on his face.

“You existing was enough for me,” he said. She laughed, resting her head on his shoulder.

“I should probably get home soon,” she murmured. “Alya’s going to have a heart attack if I don’t.”

“How about I call her and you just stay the night anyways?” Adrien suggested. “It’s not safe for a young lady like yourself to be out and about at this late hour.”

Marinette yawned again.

“I suppose,” she said, her eyes sliding shut. Adrien smiled and carefully lifted her out of the chair. Her arms landed around his neck, her head falling onto his shoulder.

“Come on, sleepyhead,” Adrien said. “Let’s get you to bed.”

“That rhymes,” was the giggled reply, but soon Adrien’s girlfriend was sleeping in his arms. He smiled, flicking the light off on his way by, and carried her to his room. He carefully laid her down in his bed, tucking the covers around her. After a moment of deliberation, he stripped off his shirt and pulled on a pair of sweatpants and laid down next to her, not touching, but still close. He was nearing the edge of sleep when an arm wrapped around him and Marinette’s head tucked into the crook of his neck.

“Goodnight,” she murmured. Adrien smiled and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

“Goodnight. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

 

This time when Adrien woke up, Marinette was in his arms, her ear pressed to his heartbeat. He smiled at the sight. It felt familiar and new all at once. He reached over, careful not to disturb her, and fumbled for the clock. It told him that they had four hours before they needed to be at work. He wondered how long he should let Marinette sleep in.

He was spared the decision when she rolled over, murmuring something sleepily, and opened her eyes. He turned on his side to face her.

“Good morning, beautiful,” he grinned. “How did you sleep?”

She didn’t answer, just threw her arm over her face and groaned. He laughed.

“Not a morning person. I’ll remember that.”

Marinette rolled out of bed and disappeared. Adrien hauled himself out and followed her. She headed down the hallway, her bare feet making soft padding sounds against the floor. She went into the bathroom, pulling off her shirt and twisting the shower knob. Adrien leaned against the doorway and watched her strip down. She turned to him and her mouth curled into a smile. She crooked one finger towards him.

“You coming?”

Adrien grinned and stepped inside the bathroom, shutting the door.

 

Nino was sitting at the kitchen table, clunky headphones over his ears, probably working on another music mix. He didn’t even notice when Marinette walked right by him, hair still wet and wearing one of Adrien’s shirts. She opened the fridge to examine its contents, which Nino did notice. He jumped a little, yanking his headphones off.

“Marinette!” Nino stole a glance at Adrien. “I didn’t know you were still here!”

“I decided to stay the night. Do you guys seriously not have any milk?”

“No, we’re out,” Adrien laughed. Marinette scowled, slamming the fridge door shut.

“I was going to make crêpes,” she complained. Adrien laughed again.

“Nino will get some today, when he’s out with Alya. Right, Nino?”

Nino frowned, then got it. Adrien prayed that Nino wouldn’t blow his cover. He and Alya were going out to investigate Le Papillon, something Marinette couldn’t know.

“Right, right! When I’m out. With Alya. Milk. Got it, got it, got it.”

Adrien turned back to Marinette, grinning.

“See? Problem solved. You can come back tonight and make crêpes.”

Marinette rolled her eyes and gave Adrien a little kiss.

“I’m going to go get my stuff,” she said. She disappeared around the corner. Adrien heard a door shut somewhere down the hall.

“Dude!” Nino hissed. “You didn’t tell me Marinette was still here!”

Adrien laughed.

“I was a little busy, Nino. I didn’t realize you needed a heads-up. It’s not that big a deal, is it?”

“Yes, it is!” Nino cried. “I didn’t expect there to be a _girl_ in the apartment!”

“So?”

Nino stood, revealing that he wasn’t wearing any pants. Adrien stared at his roommate for a second, then started laughing.

“Oh, this is great. I forgot for a second that you don’t wear pants to bed.”

“If I’d know that your girlfriend was still gonna be here, I would have put some on,” Nino said, irritated. “Maybe a little warning next time?”

“Adrien, I’ve got my stuff – AHHH!”

Nino shrieked along with Marinette, his hands moving to cover his exposed…. areas. Marinette dropped her bag and her hands flew to her eyes.

“Nino!” she screamed. “Why are you naked?”

“Technically he’s only half-naked,” Adrien pointed out, grinning like an idiot. Nino shot him a glare, grabbed his laptop off the table, and hurried out of the kitchen. Marinette flinched when the DJ accidentally brushed her arm on the way by.

“Is he gone?” she squeaked. Adrien laughed, gently taking her wrists gently and pulling her hands away from her eyes.

“Yeah, he’s gone. He didn’t expect you to be here; I’m sure he feels really bad.”  
Marinette let out an annoyed huff.

“I think I’m scarred for life now,” she said. “I’ll never be able to come over here again.”

Adrien pretended to be hurt.

“But I’d miss you, Spots,” he said, stepping in a little closer and pulling her towards him. Marinette smirked.

“You’d live, _chaton_.”

“I might,” Adrien agreed. “But life wouldn’t be worth living without you.”

Marinette blushed and Adrien went in for a long kiss, twisting their fingers together at their sides.

“You big sap,” she said when they broke apart. Adrien shrugged.

“I meant it.”

She kissed him again, and Adrien could’ve stayed there forever.

 

Two more shows went by. Marinette’s deadline was drawing closer and Adrien could see the strain it was putting on her. Alya and Nino were doing their best to research Le Papillon, but they were hitting roadblock after roadblock. Sauvageot seemed to be putting more and more obstacles in their path. Adrien himself couldn’t look in to the company, and being sidelined frustrated him. He wanted to help Marinette in any way he could, but the restraining order Sauvageot had out on him made it difficult to do anything.

Tikki and Plagg were clearly worried about Marinette as well. Adrien often caught them whispering furiously and stealing glances at her during warmups or intermission. It didn’t take a genius to guess what they were talking about.

“Hey, Marinette,” Alya said after one show, sticking her head into Marinette’s dressing room. Marinette was lying on the floor, her head resting in Adrien’s lap. “Mind if I steal Adrien for a little bit?”

Marinette seemed too sleepy to properly protest, so Adrien grabbed a pillow off a nearby chair, tucking it under her head with a promise to return soon. He stood up, stretching out his legs, and followed Alya into the hallway.

“You two did amazing tonight, by the way,” Alya said to Adrien. “Pas de Deux blows my mind every time.”

“Thanks,” Adrien muttered, rubbing the back of his neck and blushing a little. “We worked hard on it.”

“I can tell.”

“You’re not just here to compliment our dancing,” Adrien said. Alya’s expression darkened.

“No, I’m not. I found some more information, and I think you’ll be interested in this. It’s about Chloe.”

Adrien immediately stepped closer.

“What about Chloe? What did you find?”

“Calm down,” Alya snapped. “I need you to keep a level head. We sent Nathanaël to the studio to do a little bit of infiltration. He talked to Chloe. Apparently Le Papillon made her cut off all communications with her old company.”

“So that’s why I haven’t heard from her,” Adrien realized. “They forced her to stop talking to us!” He refocused on Alya. “Did you find anything else? How was she?”

“Not good, all things considered. Apparently pretty overworked. Nathanaël said she looked really thin, too.”

Adrien’s hands curled into fists at his side.

“Is there anything that you found that’s directly incriminating to Le Papillon or Sauvageot?”

Alya shook her head.

“Unless we can convince Chloe to come forward and talk about it, we technically still have nothing.”

“Can we get her to talk about it?”

Alya shrugged.

“I can check with Nathanaël again, but it’s iffy.”

Adrien sighed, stringing his hands through his hair.

“Alright, keep me updated as usual. And you found nothing new on Sauvageot?”

Alya shook her head.

“That guy’s locked up tighter than a maximum security prison. Haven’t found so much as a peep of information… on… him…” Alya trailed off, staring over Adrien’s shoulder. He frowned.

“What?”

“Well,” Alya said, clearing her throat. “Good chat, Adrien, I’ll see you later if I live through the night.”

“What?” Adrien was even more confused. Someone cleared their throat behind him and his stomach dropped into his shoes. He turned around to see Marinette standing behind him, arms crossed and a scowl fixed on her face.

“Marinette,” Adrien said, eyes darting around to see if there was anyone that could help him. Alya had bolted and the hallway looked pretty clear otherwise. He was on his own.

“You’re looking into Le Papillon.”

It wasn’t a question. Not even an accusation. Just a simply stated fact. Adrien swallowed, still avoiding meeting Marinette’s eyes. He’d never heard her voice like that, quiet and full of anger. It scared him a little.

“Yeah,” he finally said, rubbing the back of his head nervously and dropping his gaze to her stomach. “Yeah, I am.”

“You’re looking into Le Papillon _behind my back_.”

Now Adrien flinched, the bite in her words stinging as if she’d slapped him across the face with them. Marinette let out a short, mirthless laugh, nothing like the usual one that Adrien loved.

“You gave me that little speech about _respecting my decision_ , about caring about me and wanting me to be happy but all this time you’ve just been going behind my back, and for what? What are you trying to prove, Adrien?”

Adrien gulped, flicking his eyes up to meet hers. They were narrowed in a glare he never thought he’d have pinned on him.

“I wanted you to stay,” he finally said, his voice small.

“That’s not up to you!” she shouted, jabbing one finger into his chest. “That’s always been my choice, my decision! You said you respected that, but I guess you don’t!”

“What was I supposed to do?” Adrien shouted back, a bubble of anger rising in his chest. “Lie down and let you leave? Watch you disappear when I finally told you how I felt? I’m not going to let you go without a fight, Marinette! I care too much for that!”

“But it’s not up to you!” she screamed. “It’s not up to you, or Alya, or Nino who I’m sure you dragged into this, or anyone else! It’s always been _my choice_ , and as much as I hate to say it, I think I made the right one!”

“What about Sauvageot? What about Chloe? Something’s off about Le Papillon; something doesn’t add up. Are you just going to ignore that? Chloe apparently was forced to cut off communications–”

“I don’t want to hear it!” Marinette yelled. “I don’t want to hear anything you have to say! I can’t believe you would do this! I can’t believe you would go behind my back like this! Yes, Le Papillon is a little strange, but it’s the right choice. Maybe you don’t think so, or Alya doesn’t think so, but that’s not for you to decide! You don’t get to say that you don’t like my choice and then try to change it! It’s not up to you!”

“Maybe it should be!” Adrien shouted, hands curling into fists at his sides. “Maybe you should ask the people you care about and that care about you before you make a decision that affects all of us! It’s not just about you!”

“I thought you were going to support me!” Marinette screamed, tears sparkling in the corners of her eyes. “I thought you were going to stand by me and be supportive but instead you’re going behind my back and dragging my friends into whatever the hell this is and I just _can’t believe you_ –”

She cut off, choking up a little, and swore, swiping at a tear that was making its way down her face. Adrien’s anger crumbled and he stepped forward, reaching out for her arm.

“Marinette–”

“No!” She jerked away, wrapping her arms around herself. “I don’t want to talk to you. Just–” Her voice broke again. “Just leave me alone.”

She turned and went back into her dressing room, slamming the door shut. Adrien stared at the closed door for a full minute. Someone’s hand landed on his shoulder.

“Adrien,” Plagg said gently. “She’ll come around, I’m sure.”

Adrien nodded numbly. Plagg squeezed his shoulder gently, comfortingly, before walking off, probably to find Tikki. Adrien knocked on Marinette’s door.

“Marinette?”

“Didn’t I tell you to leave me alone?”

“My bag is in there.”

A few muttered swear words, and then the door was flung open and Adrien’s bag was flying at him faster than he could register. It hit him square in the face, something that Marinette probably didn’t see since the door slammed almost immediately after she threw the bag. He stumbled back, the bag thumping to the ground and his hands flying up to his face. The bag had made a decent impact, but nothing felt broken. He might end up with a spectacular bruise, though.

“She’s that mad, huh?” Alya said, walking up next to him. Adrien nodded, staring at Marinette’s door. Alya sighed. “Let me try to talk to her.”

Before Alya could even knock, Marinette’s voice came through the door.

“I’m staying with Tikki tonight.”

Alya reeled back as if she’d been punched. Her eyes narrowed.

“Fine, then. Be that way.”

The blogger stomped off, muttering swear words under her breath. Adrien was still standing in the same place, fighting back the burn of tears behind his eyes. He inhaled shakily, tearing his eyes away from Marinette’s door, and stepped back, stringing his hands through his hair. He picked up his bag, ready to go home. He didn’t want to talk to the press, not on that night.

As he was heading out, he was stopped by Nino.

“Dude,” Nino said. “I heard you and Marinette got in a fight. What happened?”

“I don’t want to talk about it, Nino,” Adrien said tiredly. “I’m going home.”

Nino nodded, eyes full of concern, but he let Adrien pass. Adrien was stopped again, this time by Tikki, as he was almost to the door.

“Adrien,” the redhead said, setting her hands on his arms gently. “It’s not your fault. Everything has been crazy lately. Marinette’s under a lot of stress, and so are you. Go home, get some sleep, but just know this – Marinette cares about you a lot, a lot more than she’ll ever admit to anyone, even me. Whatever happened between you two, she’ll forgive you.”

“Thanks, Tikki,” Adrien said, pulling out of her grasp. “But I don’t want forgiveness. I want a time machine.”

He walked past her without another word, heading out into the cold November evening. He took a moment to inhale the crisp air, letting it burn at his lungs, before slinging his bag over his shoulder and starting on the walk home. He kept his head down, blinking back the tongues of flame that pressed behind his eyes and trying to hold it together at least until he got home.

He’d managed to destroy his relationship with Marinette within a week of admitting his feelings. What a good luck charm he was.

He tossed his bag aside and shut the door to his apartment, taking big gulps of air as the tears he’d been fighting since the moment Marinette slammed her door finally made their way down his cheeks. He buried his face in his hands, shoulders shaking. 

“No,” he gasped. “Oh, God, no. What did I do? _What did I do?_ ”

He dragged his hands down his face, walking to the kitchen and sitting down at the kitchen table. He could still imagine Marinette sitting there, smiling sleepily at him with her hair down and one of his old t-shirts slipping off one shoulder. He rested his forehead on his arms on the table, letting the tears come, and wished he could go back to that morning, when everything felt right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehe... don't hurt me
> 
> So the exchange between Nino, Marinette and Adrien is based on an actual thing that happened to me one time when I was over at Tommy(my boyfriend) and his roommate's apartment. Real experience, I'm scarred for life.  
> Okay but now things are really taking a turn into plot land. Let me know if you liked it (or if you didn't) and submit your calls for my death below. :) (Please do actually I'm kind of iffy on this chapter did I do okay?)
> 
> Ily btw and I'm going to try to have the next chapter up within the next couple weeks.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow okay it's been so long I'm sorry I have so many excuses but I'll spare you the details okay HERE IS YOUR CHAPTER   
> This is so much shorter and so much worse than you deserve but it's all I've got  
> Happy hiatus come cry with me.

Marinette stretched out, yawning and opening her eyes sleepily. She rolled over and fell off the couch with a little “oof!” 

“Marinette,” Tikki laughed. “Did you forget you were sleeping on the couch?”

Marinette rolled her eyes, sitting up.

“A little, yeah. What time is it?”

“Time for you to get a watch,” Tikki said teasingly. “It’s eight.”

Marinette nodded and pulled herself to her feet, searching around for her stuff. Tikki’s apartment was fairly small, which had surprised Marinette when she’d walked in the first night. She’d figured that a dancer like Tikki, someone that had starred in many shows and worked for a prestigious company for years, would have a nice apartment. When Marinette asked, Tikki just shrugged and said, “This is my apartment from when I was a student. It was my home, I made it my home. I didn’t want to move away.”

Tikki was in the kitchen, making some breakfast. 

“You still have three hours before you need to be at work,” she said, pulling the toast out of the toaster. “Do you want to do anything before then?”

Marinette shook her head, sitting down at the table. Tikki set a plate of toast down in front of her and sat down next to her. She set her hand over Marinette’s.

“It’s been two days, Marinette. You can’t stay mad at them forever,” she said quietly. “They’re your friends. They were just trying to help.”

“They went behind my back,” Marinette cried, pulling her hand away. “They lied to my face and went behind my back! How is that helping?”

“They don’t want you to leave. Can you blame them?”

“Yes! They should have told me they were looking into Le Papillon! They should have told me!”

“I know you’re upset,” Tikki said quietly. “I know that you are upset and angry and hurt but you can’t let that break all the relationships you have in your life. You and Alya are incredibly close. Trying to cut off a relationship like that leaves scars, permanent ones.”

“I don’t want to hear this,” Marinette said, getting up to get her things.

“Adrien loves you,” Tikki continued, even as Marinette seemed to prepare to leave. “He loves you more than I’ve ever seen him love anyone.”

This gave Marinette pause. She turned to look at Tikki. The older dancer had a sad smile on.

“I’ve known Adrien for most of his life. I was only fifteen when I joined Agreste. Plagg joined at the same time. Adrien was two. Plagg and I have watched him grow from a cute little boy to an amazing young man. But all that time, the only other person that I’ve ever seen him love as much as he loves you is his mother.”

Marinette shook her head, hauling her bag onto her shoulder.

“He might love me, Tikki, but he still shouldn’t have gone behind my back.”

“You’re right,” Tikki conceded. “He shouldn’t have. But he’s only human. He makes mistakes, and when it comes to the people he loves, he’ll do anything. He’d burn all of Paris if it would get you to stay.”

Marinette couldn’t think of anything to say to that, so she picked up her toast on her way out the door and left the apartment.

 

She avoided Adrien as much as possible when she got to work, only speaking to him when she had to. He had gotten a large bruise from her throwing his bag at him, something she felt only slightly guilty about. She tried to avoid Alya and Nino as well, ducking her head and changing directions every time she saw them.

She was warming up when someone sat down next to her and started stretching. She sat up in her split, startled, and looked over. Plagg twisted where he was sitting, stretching out his back.

“Don’t mind me,” he said brightly, smiling at her. “I’m just stretching out.”

Marinette arched one eyebrow but let it go, sliding her legs together and reaching to touch her toes. Plagg stayed silent for another minute before he spoke again.

“Adrien is torn up about what happened,” he said quietly. Marinette immediately stiffened, but she didn’t get up. “He hasn’t spoken in two days, not even to me or Nino. I know he feels guilty, but this is something different. He feels like he’s lost you.”

Marinette paused, her hands wrapped around her feet and her forehead resting on her knees.

“I know you’re angry with him, and you have every right to be,” Plagg continued. “He screwed up. He knows that he did. All I’m asking is that you find it in you to forgive him. He cares about you a lot. I don’t think he’d be able to live with himself if you left Agreste angry at him.”

Marinette sat up slowly, glancing over at Plagg. The dark-haired man smiled sadly.

“Good talk, Marinette. Good luck tonight.”

He got up and walked away, leaving Marinette sitting on the floor, buried in her own thoughts.

 

Marinette tried to pretend that Adrien just wasn’t there when doing Pas de Deux and let her muscle memory take over. She didn’t look him in the eye, even when they were supposed to be looking at each other. She focused on his cheek, on a small freckle there. She tried not to remember all the times she’d pressed her lips to that freckle, or run her thumb over it before pulling him into a kiss.

She could be professional.

When the show was over, she went straight to her dressing room to throw on street clothes before notes. She sat down heavily in front of the mirror, staring at her reflection. She looked tired, worn; as if someone had placed a large burden on her shoulders that she couldn’t remove. She scrubbed her face with her hands before getting up and heading to the stage for notes. 

“Sabrina, great job tonight, but make sure that you’re not stiffening up when you lean back. You have to keep it fluid, that’s the essence of the dance this year. Kim and Max, you two did wonderfully, but make sure that you are completely in sync. That’s supposed to be what’s so funny about the two of you.”

Tikki looked up from her clipboard to Marinette, who was standing by herself in the back. Her gaze slid to Adrien, who was leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his chest. Her brow crinkled.

“Marinette and Adrien,” she said, looking down at her notes. “You two were so off tonight. All the steps were there, and you did them perfectly, but I didn’t feel it. You lacked the emotion you guys usually have. Please fix that before the show tomorrow.”

Marinette gulped, her eyes flicking to Adrien. He was staring straight ahead, but she saw his Adam’s apple bob when she looked at him. She faced forward again, cheeks burning.

She was angry with him. She was angry with him. He’d gone behind her back to research Le Papillon. She was angry with him.

But then again…

He just wanted her to stay. He told her he loved her and now he was scared that she was going to leave. He had mentioned something about Chloe disappearing. Maybe he was afraid that was going to happen to Marinette. As for going behind her back, maybe he knew what she would say if he told her what he was doing.

Maybe she should give him a chance.

Marinette realized that she’d spaced out for the rest of the notes and jumped when someone brushed past her. She coughed awkwardly and turned to leave. As she turned, she let her eyes drift and they locked on Adrien. He was still standing in the same place as before, staring straight ahead. His fingers were digging into his arms. Marinette swallowed hard. She hated to see him hurting, and she hated that she was the one that made him feel that way. 

She finally got up the courage to walk up to him and set her hand on his arm. He startled, looking down at her with wide eyes. She tried to smile.

“Can I talk to you?” she asked softly. “In private?”

She could see him gulp before he nodded. He followed her back to her dressing room silently and closed the door behind himself. Marinette turned to face him.

“I’m sorry,” he immediately blurted. “I should have told you what was going on, I screwed up–”

“Stop.”

He pressed his lips together, eyes raking across Marinette’s face. She dipped her gaze to his chest.

“I understand why you looked into Le Papillon,” she said. “I get it. I’m still angry that you went behind my back to do it, but I understand why.”

She took a deep breath.

“That said, I want to know – was it worth it? Did you find something that justifies going behind my back like this?”

Adrien stared at her, expression raw and vulnerable.

“I found a few things,” he whispered. “Alya and I… we think we found a couple things.”

Marinette nodded slowly. 

“I’ll go get Alya. Then you’re going to tell me everything. My deadline is tomorrow, so if you’ve found anything that might change my mind, you need to tell me.”

Adrien nodded. A minute later, Marinette was sitting in her chair and Alya and Adrien were standing in front of her. Alya’s arms were crossed over her chest. 

“Now you want to talk?” Alya snapped. “When you’ve shut us out for two days?”

“Alya,” Adrien said quietly. “She wants to know what we’ve found on Le Papillon.”  
Alya stilled, turning to look at Marinette.

“You want to know what we found?” she asked. Marinette nodded. Alya blinked, clearly startled by this, but she reached into her pocket and pulled out her ever-present notebook. 

“We talked to a few dancers that work at Le Papillon,” Adrien explained while Alya flipped through the pages. “They’ve each told a different story. It took a while but we did get a chance to get to Chloe.”

“What did she say?”

“Nathanaël was the one that talked to her and he said she looked really thin,” Alya jumped in. “She told him that she was overworked and that Le Papillon didn’t allow any communication with her old company. The stories we’ve gotten from a few other dancers there seem to match up. And on top of that, the company has a history of complaints from the dancers.”

“What kind of complaints?”

“That I was unable to find. We’ve found nothing about Sauvageot, either. A lot of things about the company are still a mystery to us, but everything that we did find points to it being untrustworthy.”

Marinette nodded slowly, hugging herself. Adrien stepped forward cautiously.

“Can you see why we were concerned?” he asked. “The whole situation was sketchy at the beginning, with him showing up to rehearsals and handing out his damn cards, and now it’s even worse!”

Marinette nodded again, staring at the ground and trying to think.

“Marinette,” Alya said softly. “Could you please just talk to us?”

“I need a minute alone,” Marinette said. “Please.”

Adrien drew back and Alya said, “Come on. Give her the minute.”

Marinette waited until the door had shut with a snap behind them to even move. Her head was spinning as she made her way to the chair in front of the mirror. 

They’d actually found things on Le Papillon. What was she going to do with that information? Chloe wasn’t exactly the most trustworthy source, but she did trust Nathanaël. Marinette sighed, putting her face in her hands.

She didn’t know what to do.

When had everything become so complicated? She missed the days when she and Adrien and Tikki and Plagg used to all sit in the break room like a family and just exist together. No Le Papillon to mess everything up. No messy feelings and no worrying about if anyone was going to get fired. Things were so much simpler back then.  
“What the hell are you doing here?”

Marinette’s head snapped up at the angry question that came from the other side of the door. She’d only ever heard Adrien so angry one other time. A cool response came shortly after.

“I suggest you get out of my way, Mr. Agreste.”

“Like hell. She still has a day. Leave her alone.”

Marinette shivered. Sauvageot was coming a day early. Why was she not surprised? He would stop at nothing to get her out of Agreste. 

“Monsieur Agreste,” Sauvageot’s voice said smoothly. “I can call the police at any time as you are currently breaking the conditions of your restraining order. As I am not here for you and frankly, don’t want to deal with you right now, I won’t, but if you continue to bother me, I will contact the authorities.”

“Adrien,” Alya’s voice cut in. “Go find Tikki and Plagg. I’ll handle this.”

Marinette heard soft footsteps and then Alya’s voice again.

“You don’t have a restraining order on me, asshole, but you will want to get one if you don’t back the hell up.”

“Feisty, Mademoiselle Césaire. I simply want to speak with your friend. I’m not here to do anything wrong.”

“You’re full of shit. You stay away from my friend. She doesn’t need you messing with her head any more than you already have. Leave her alone.”

“Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng,” Sauvageot called through the door. “I would like a word.”

Marinette inhaled shakily. She had to do something. Sauvageot wasn’t going to just go away. She would have to talk to him. Could she face him, though, after learning what she had about Le Papillon? After learning what conditions their dancers worked in?

She finally stood on shaky legs and walked over to the door. She could hear Alya arguing with Sauvageot on the other side and smiled a little. It was nice to know that her friends would defend her so vehemently. Maybe she would still be able to talk to them if she went to Le Papillon. Considering all the trouble Alya and Adrien went through just to make sure Marinette didn’t go, she didn’t doubt they would pester Le Papillon to allow them to contact Marinette.

Sauvageot had Alya right in his face when Marinette opened the door to her dressing room. Alya took a step backwards in surprise, staring at Marinette.

“What are you doing out here?” she demanded, narrowing her eyes at her best friend. “I thought you wanted a minute to yourself.”

“Mademoiselle,” Sauvageot said, smiling at Marinette. “Good to see you again. Have you come up with an answer for me?”

“Sauvageot,” a new voice thundered. Marinette didn’t even have to turn her head to know that it was Tikki. The redhead entered the scene like a hurricane, Plagg trailing behind with a smirk. Marinette’s mentor looked ready to rip the purple suited man apart.

“Oh, shit,” Plagg smirked. “You’re gonna get it now.”

Marinette found herself facing a cascade of fiery hair instead of Sauvageot as Tikki confronted the man, poking a finger into his chest.

“You stay the hell away from my dancers,” Tikki hissed. “If you think you can come in here and try to recruit people out the company I’ve worked in since I was _fifteen_ , you are sadly mistaken.”

Sauvageot seemed slightly intimidated by the angry ballerina in front of him. Marinette would have laughed if the situation hadn’t been so serious. Tikki’s ranting at Sauvageot had escalated into shouting, and was attracting attention from other people backstage. Dancers were poking their heads into the hallway, sending curious and concerned looks in their directions. Marinette figured that she should step in before it got out of hand. Tikki could lose her job if she wasn’t careful.

“Tikki,” Marinette said, setting a hand on her mentor’s shoulder. “I’ve got this.”

Tikki glared one last time at Sauvageot, looking like she wanted to spit on the man, and turned away. Plagg set one hand on the small woman’s back and lead her away. Marinette looked up to meet Sauvageot’s eyes and hated that he looked satisfied, like he’d already won.

“Bonsoir, Monsieur,” Marinette said politely. “You wanted to talk?” 

“Yes,” Sauvageot said. He cast his eyes around the hallway, at the people watching curiously. “Perhaps somewhere a little more private?”

“No,” Marinette said coolly. “Here will do.”

Sauvageot seemed surprised at this answer but, to his credit, didn’t lose any composure. 

“Very well. Do you have an answer for me regarding the possibility of your employment at Le Papillon?”

Immediately there were gasps from the others in the hallway. Whispers flew from one dancer to the other, spreading the news that Marinette had an offer from Le Papillon and that she’d been considering it. Marinette didn’t even have to listen to suspect what kinds of things they were saying. After Chloe left, Le Papillon was even more hated by the Agreste dancers. Sauvageot’s mere presence in the hallway was enough to make the majority of the dancers angry. Marinette wondered if that bubbling anger was now turning on her.

“Yes, I do,” she told Sauvageot. 

The hallway burst into angry chatter. Marinette couldn’t decide if they were angry at her or angry at Sauvageot or just plain angry. Either way, she didn’t really want to find out. Sauvageot’s mouth curled into a positively predatory smile.

“Excellent. I’ll have a contract written up for you–”

“I’ve decided to politely decline your offer. And I ask that you don’t contact me again.”

Sauvageot blinked, his smile instantly becoming a scowl.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me,” Marinette snapped. “I don’t want to join your company, I don’t want to see you anywhere near mine, and I don’t want to hear from you ever again. You’ve harassed me for too long and I’m sick of it. Please leave.”

Sauvageot took a threatening step towards Marinette in the dangerously silent hallway.

“You’re making a mistake,” he said in a low voice. “Agreste is going down, and you would do well to jump ship now.”

Marinette met his gaze and said evenly, “I gave you an answer. Unless there is something else you want, I ask that you kindly show yourself out.”

Sauvageot drew himself up to his full height, glared at Marinette, and walked out. Marinette waited until the door to the outside had shut before blowing out the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.

“Holy shit.”

Marinette froze. She turned slowly to look at the wide-eyed dancers that were staring at her. Alya was grinning at her, her eyes bright with pride. She could see Adrien at the end of the hallway, mouth hanging open and eyes shining. 

“Umm…”

Adrien elbowed his way past everyone and crushed Marinette to his chest, wrapping his arms around her in a breathless hug. Marinette was too startled to react at first, but when he showed no signs of moving, returned the embrace fiercely. A few dancers whooped and Alya took a picture. 

Adrien pulled back after an eternity, taking Marinette’s face in his hands and gazing down at her with the most love she’d ever seen in his eyes.

“I’m so in love with you right now,” he laughed, pressing his forehead to hers. She laughed with him, winding her arms around his neck.

“Good.”

She stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his. Alya took another picture and someone, probably Nino, yelled, “Get a room!”

Marinette knew that she was still going to have to deal with the fallout of what had happened, both between her and Adrien (as there was still a lot that had yet to be said) and with Sauvageot. But at that moment, she didn’t really care. At that moment, she wanted to just be happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so there are only one or two more chapters left of this fic (*incoherent sobbing*) and then it will be over. I'm working on getting those up as soon as humanly possible and it should be easier now that universite is out, but I will make no promises.  
> As usual, please let me know how I did because I feel like this chapter just wasn't very good?? Like I'm just not sure I'm fully satisfied but I've rewritten it too many times and this is the best version I have.


End file.
